Rising Starrs, Revamped!
by L1701E
Summary: Chapter 13 up! Complete At Last! The Starr Brothers' first meeting with the Misfits retold! Next: The Final Battle! Read and Review please!
1. Chapter 1

**Rising Starrs!**

**Hey there, folks! L1701E here! One day, I was reading some of my very old fics. One of my very old Misfitverse fic, in fact, and I just realized something: I had really grown in skill as a writer since then, and I thought one of my old fics could use a re-telling, and I figured it should be, chronologically-wise, the fic in which the Starr Brothers, two of my most well-known original characters, made their first appearance in the Misfit-verse. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own the Starr Brothers. Red Witch owns Althea Delgado, Xi, Trinity, and everyone else is owned by Marvel Comics and Sunbow Entertainment. If you want to sue me, I will sic Darkstar on you. You don't want Darkstar after you.**

Chapter 1: Two New Faces!

**A beach in Los Angeles, California**

"What a life." Althea Delgado smiled as she laid back on the beach towel, clad in a blue two-piece swimsuit. The Misfits were vacationing in Los Angeles, California. "Toddles, I need lotion on my back!"

"Coming, my little Sweetheart of the Sea!" Todd Tolensky hopped up to her, and started rubbing lotion on his beloved girlfriend's back. Another girl, who also had raven-colored hair like Althea had, pulled down a pair of red sunglasses and rolled her eyes in disbelief.

"I swear Toad, your pet names for her are getting sappier all the time." Wanda Maximoff grumbled. She was lying on another towel, clad in a red one-piece swimsuit.

"You're just jealous because you have nobody to give you a pet name, Wanda." Todd grinned, sticking his tongue out. Wanda rolled her eyes. She noticed Lance writing another love poem about Kitty. The Triplets were helping Claudius and Barney build a sand metropolis. At an ice cream stand, Fred was deciding what ice cream flavor to have. Unfortunately, the powerhouse was having trouble deciding, as all the flavors appealed to him. Xi was nowhere to be found. He was obviously either invisible or had gone somewhere. Pietro was posing for some girls, ranting about how good he looked and how he won Mr. Teen Universe. Wanda groaned in disgust at her twin brother's idiocy.

"One day, my brother is going to get his butt kicked." Wanda sighed. She looked at Todd and Althea. She couldn't help but remember when Todd used to flirt with her all the time in the Brotherhood House. The hex-caster had to admit, she was certainly surprised when she learned of Todd and Althea's relationship. The relationship puzzled her a bit, as she felt at the time that Toad was a disgusting, annoying, half-witted freak. She never could imagine that _anyone_ could find him desirable, but life had a way of surprising people.

**An alley in Los Angeles**

"NEVER!" A teenage boy's voice roared. A pair of Cobra Vipers got themselves slammed into a brick wall hard. With a groan, they slumped to the ground. The source of the roar had long black hair, and was clad in a black leather jacket, a Metallica t-shirt, and torn blue jeans. He hit another Viper hard in the gut with an obviously-stolen LAPD-issue nightstick and threw him into another wall. His right eye flashed dark purple. The eye was also surrounded by an unusual birthmark: A black 5-pointed star. "C'mon, Paul! These clowns won't quit! We gotta get the hell outta here!" He called in a voice that was slightly gruff and guttural.

"Hang on, Craig!" A more cheerful-sounding voice replied to the boy with the black star on his face. It came from another boy who looked exactly like the first, only the star on his face was purple. He was clad like an 80's rocker: Purple acid-washed jeans, a black Kiss t-shirt with a torn-up purple mesh shirt that went off one shoulder, white fingerless gloves with fringe, and several bracelets on each wrist, some studded, and some wildly-colored and patterned. This boy dealt with a Viper by ducking the Viper's blow and tripping him, making him fall into a trash can. "Got 'im!"

"Let's go!" Craig ordered. The two twin boys raced out of the alley. "Man, those guys are like cockroaches! You can't get rid of 'em!"

"There's got to be someone who can help us!" Paul exclaimed. "Maybe the cops can help! Or some of those superhero guys!"

"Yeah, right! The cops? Dream on, Paul! The cops in this town only care about a problem if it affects rich white people! You should know, you _were_ one!" Craig growled.

"I don't think the cops could handle this, anyway." Paul admitted with a gulp. "I wish we could've helped the others."

"They can help themselves!" Craig snapped. "Besides, they needed someone to get away and warn somebody!" The young mutant sighed in his head. _I just wish we had an idea who. Don't know of any of those super-types Paul was talking about that operate in LA..._

**The beach**

Pietro Maximoff was getting incredibly frustrated. After his attempts to chat up some lovely locals, the mutant speedster decided to treat himself to some ice cream. However, he found himself in a line. And for someone who had little patience, it was Hell. "Fred, pick already! I want ice cream here!" The silver-haired youth snapped.

"But all those flavors are so good, Pietro!" Fred sighed in helplessness as he looked up at the menu. The people standing behind the two young mutants groaned.

"Oh, come on!" A woman yelled.

"Hey fat-ass! Why not just order one of everything so we can get some ice cream?" A man yelled.

"It's hot out here! I want ice cream!" A child whined.

"Kid, if you can't decide, then get out of the line so everyone else can order!" The man in the ice cream shop yelled.

_Count to ten..._A frustrated Fred reminded himself, taking a breath. _Remember what Psyche-Out said...count to ten, count to ten, count to ten..._ Meanwhile, a Joe named Recondo, a mustachioed man from Wisconsin who was the Joes' Jungle Warfare expert, was taking a break. He was helping two other Joes, codenamed Lady Jaye and Cover Girl, do some shopping...and they decided to try out swimsuits in a swim shop. The resting Recondo was sitting on a chair, several bags next to him.

"Are you sure it's a good idea leaving the kids at the beach?" The jungle warfare expert sighed. "I mean, I know I'm not one of the kids' regular caretakers, but I do think that maybe it's not the best idea for them to be left on their own."

"Don't worry about it, Recondo." Lady Jaye chuckled from one of the dressing rooms. "Althea and Lance will be able to keep them in line briefly."

"The kids'll be fine for a few minutes." Cover Girl agreed from another dressing room. "I'm ready." Cover Girl came out, clad in a tiger-print swimsuit, and she struck a pose, like back in her modeling days. Recondo whistled.

"Someone call Paris and Milan, Cover Girl is ready to make a comeback." The mustached Joe grinned.

"Very funny, Recondo." Lady Jaye smirked, coming out in a black bikini. Recondo smiled.

"You both look great." The Wisonsin native complimented. He then blushed slightly in embarassment at Lady Jaye. "In your case, Lady Jaye, I'd better not look anymore or else Flint will kick my head in." The brunette couldn't help but laugh.

"You oughta go into stand-up, Recondo." The javelin-user chortled. "Okay, we're ready to go." A couple minutes later, the three Joes left the shop.

"WATCH OUT!" A teenage boy's voice yelled.

"Huh?" The three Joes blinked. Before the three adults could do anything, the two twin brothers, Paul and Craig, collided into them, causing them all to fall over.

"Oof!" Recondo grunted as he fell to the ground, causing the bags he was holding to fall all over the place.

"Ohhh..." Cover Girl moaned as she and the rest of the group untangled themselves and got to their feet.

"What was that?" Lady Jaye grunted, dusting herself off.

"Oh, God!" Paul gasped, trying to help the Joes up. "We're so sorry! We just-!"

"Watch your step!" Craig snapped. "You idiots aren't the only people using the sidewalk!"

"Whoa, take it easy, kid." Lady Jaye tried to calm down the enraged teenager. "We didn't see you coming. We really are sorry."

"We're trying to flee for our lives here!" Craig roared.

"Flee?" Cover Girl blinked. "Flee from what?"

"None of your business!" Craig snapped.

_Craig, they may want to help!_ Paul suggested telepathically.

_No way!_ Craig snapped. _We don't really know who these people are! They might be no help!_

_Better than nothing!_ Paul responded, looking at Craig. He turned to the Joes. "Sorry about that." The young retro-clad mutant smiled. "We're looking for some help! There are these guys chasing after us. They called themselves Cobra Vipers or something like that."

"COBRA VIPERS?" The three Joes exclaimed. Paul nodded.

"Aw, wonderful." Recondo groaned.

"I think our vacation just got cancelled." Lady Jaye sighed.

"I'll get the kids." Cover Girl agreed. "When you're a Joe, you're never off duty." She added under her breath. Paul overheard it.

"Joe? Are you guys GI Joes?" Paul blinked.

"Yes, we are." Recondo answered. Craig blinked.

"Military guys? How will you be of any help to us?"

"Craig, these guys are GI Joe!" Paul grinned hopefully. "They can help! They fight those snake guys all the time! We just got a lucky break!"

_**Well, looks like the Joes met two new friends! What will happen next? Who are Paul and Craig? Why is Cobra after them? What powers do they have? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Rising Starrs!**

**Disclaimer: "Screw you guys, I'm going home!" - Eric Cartman, South Park**

Chapter 2: Meet the Misfits!

**A beach in Los Angeles**

"Ahhhh..." Pietro Maximoff smiled as he relaxed on the water, held up by a big yellow inner tube. He had decided that since he was unable to get himself any ice cream at the moment, the silver-haired speedster might as well find another way to relax and enjoy the beach. Meanwhile, Wanda Maximoff was lying on a blanket, sunning herself. She put her glasses down her nose slightly as she noticed her twin brother floating on the water. A smirk crossed her face as her hand started to glow blue.

"Heh heh heh..." Wanda threw the hexbolt in her hand. The bolt of chaos energy landed in the water, and a large wave started to grow in the water.

"Ahhh..." Pietro smiled happily, closing his eyes. He then heard a rumbling. "Huh?" The speedster opened his eyes and saw the wave bearing down on him. "Hey wha-?" His eyes widened, and he screamed. "AHHHHH!"

_**SPLOOSH!**_

The large wave crashed into Pietro, sending him flying back onto the beach.

"Oof!" The groaning speedster coughed as he got up. He spat some water out and shook the sand out of his hair. "WANDA!" Pietro screamed. It was easy for him to deduce how a small tidal wave managed to make itself suddenly appear in the middle of a calm ocean. Wanda had just used her hexing abilities to create a tidal wave to knock the silver-haired Adonis back on the beach. The dark-haired girl laughed, then lightly kicked a small amount of sand on her brother. "Wanda, trying to drown me is not fun!"

"Yeah, it is!" Wanda chortled. "I'm sorry, dear brother. I just thought you wanted to give surfing a try." The speedster glared at this dark-haired fraternal twin.

"Urk..." Pietro grumbled as he shook more sand out of his hair. "Oh, this stuff is going to be a nightmare to get out of my hair."

"You'll be able to survive it." Wanda reassured teasingly. "You're much stonger than you think." The smiling hexcaster picked up a book and started to read it. Meanwhile, Todd, Althea, and the Cobra genetic experiment known only as Xi had found a fun way to amuse themselves at the expense of Lance Alvers.

"Ahhh, I love the beach." Todd grinned. He, Althea, and Xi were burying a snoozing Lance in the sand, leaving his head above the ground. "Don't you guys?"

"Indeed." Xi smiled.

"Oh yeah." Althea chuckled. "Sun, sand, and sea. What's not to love?"

"You know, it's too bad you and I can't go to the water out here." Todd whispered to his water-manipulating girlfriend. "What with our mutations making us change colors and all, yo."

"Mm." Althea nodded in agreement. "Ah, well. We still managed to find a way to amuse ourselves here." She smiled and patted Lance's head.

"I still do not quite understand." Xi blinked, scratching his head. "Why would it be such a concern if people see you changing colors in the water? That is a natural aspect of your mutations."

"Some people might freak out, Xi." Althea explained. "It's the same reason why we gave you that image inducer. We don't want people to freak out because of you looking like a lizard-man." The former Cobra experiment looked at his hands, which resembled tanned Caucasian hands thanks to his image inducer.

"Ah, I see..." He looked down at a snoozing Lance. "I still do not understand the purpose of this activity."

"It's fun, yo!" Todd grinned.

"But won't Lance be angry that we have done this to him?" Xi wondered.

"Ah, it'll be alright." Althea reassured. "He'll look back on this and laugh." The former Cobra experiment then noticed that someone was missing from the relaxing group.

"Where is Fred? Is he still at that stand deciding what flavors of ice cream to buy?"

"Yeah, he is." Todd nodded. "Strange that Trinity has not decided to join us, yo."

"They should've." Xi agreed. "They spend far too much time in their laboratory." A flash of light was seen in the distance.

"Oh, I think they've decided to try getting out." Althea remarked in a deadpan voice.

"WAUGH!" A bunch of muscle-bound men screamed as they ran by. "KEEP THOSE PSYCHOS AWAY FROM US!" They were being chased by a giggling Trinity, floating after them.

"Oh dear God." Althea moaned, putting her face in her hands and shaking her head in an embarrassed manner. Todd rubbed her shoulders in comfort.

"It could be worse, Althea. You could've had a relative that was in the film _Gigli_." Fred grinned as he walked up to the Misfits. He was holding a large bowl that contained scoops of all the flavors of ice cream the stand had.

"Point." Althea agreed.

"Hey, guess what I got!" Fred held up his bowl proudly. "I decided to get one of everything!" Althea smirked and crossed her arms.

"They gave you one of everything so you'd go away, right?" The water-manipulator guessed. Fred was about to object, but decided against it and simply nodded. "I thought so."

"Zzzzzzzzzzz…" Lance snoozed. He started to mumble.

"You guys! He's about to wake up!" Todd whooped, and the four mutants backed up a bit. Lance mumbled and opened his eyes a bit, then mumbled some more, closed his eyes, and went back to sleep.

"Zzzzzzzzz…hee hee…Kitty…" A sleeping Lance mumbled dreamily.

"Man, that guy _really_ needs to get himself a new girlfriend, yo." Todd grumbled. "Maybe we should sign him up on a dating service or something."

"My goofy sisters tried that." Althea reminded. "Lance nearly buried them alive." She then heard giggling. "What in the-?" The leader of the Misfits turned her head to see the source. "Oh, God..." She sighed. "Toddles, look at Pietro. Will you go get him?"

"Huh?" Todd blinked, looking up. He noticed Pietro trying to pose like a muscle-man for a bunch of giggling beach bunnies. "Oh brother…" He mumbled under his breath. "Hey Ah-nold! Get over here before you hurt yourself!"

"Sorry Todd, I'm too busy being gorgeous!" Pietro grinned, not turning his head towards his amphibian-like teammate. He continued his posing. "That's right, ladies. It is possible for a man to look this good." Todd and Althea looked at each other and sighed. Xi only blinked.

"Is he _really_ this dependent on adulation to maintain a sense of self-worth?" Xi wondered out loud.

"What do _you_ think, Xi?" Todd grunted dryly.

"I'm telling you, that guy is the biggest…" Althea started to rant. However, her rant was going to be interrupted. The Joes known as Cover Girl, Recondo, and Lady Jaye approached the three young mutants. "Oh, hello." She noticed the serious looks on their faces. "Is something up?"

"Kids, we got a problem." Cover Girl explained. "You might want to gather the others."

"And don't forget to unbury Lance and wake him up." Lady Jaye added.

"You got it!" Althea nodded, starting to unbury Lance.

"Xi and I'll gather the others!" Todd volunteered, leaping to his feet. He and Xi ran off.

"And don't forget to remind Xi to keep his image inducer on!" Recondo reminded. A few minutes later, the young mutants were gathered around an area of the beach that was more deserted. "What's up, Recondo?" Althea asked, dragging the Trinity behind her.

"Oh come on, big sis!" Daria whined. "Do we have to?"

"Yes, you do!" The dark-haired girl snapped. "You need to learn to take a damned hint!" Lance also approached the group, dragging Pietro with him by the arm. The geokinetic let out a sigh as the silver-haired speedster started whining.

"This is ridiculous!" Pietro wailed as Lance shoved him into the group. "I was about to get those girls' numbers!"

"Yeah, and their boyfriends were about to come at you with chainsaws." The geokinetic reminded.

"Hey, I can't help it if women want me, and men want to _be_ me." Pietro laughed.

"In your case, it should be women want you, and men want to take shotguns to you." Fred rolled his eyes, scooping up some more ice cream with his spoon. Pietro glared at his larger teammate.

"Hey, at least I can have other people with me in an elevator." The silver-haired speedstar snorted. Fred growled at Pietro.

"Can you guys stop being clowns for five minutes?" Wanda grumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose. "This is serious." Xi noticed two figures behind the Joes.

"Althea..." The Cobra-created mutate whispered to the water-manipulator. "...there are two people behind the Joes." The ninja-trained teenager slightly tilted her head, and took her own look at the figures.

"I don't think they're threats, Xi." Althea reassured in a whisper. A smirk then formed on her face. "In fact, I think they're the reason the Joes gathered us around.

"Misfits, these are the Starr Brothers." Recondo introduced. He, Cover Girl, and Lady Jaye took a step to the side, revealing the Starr Brothers to the Misfits. "These two boys say they needed our help."

"Uhm, hello." Paul smiled, putting his hand through his dark. Craig only crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes slightly at the group. The gathering of Joe mutants waved at the Starrs, saying various phrases of greeting. Wanda's eyes locked onto the eyes of one Craig Starr, and...

"Wow..." The hexcaster whispered. _He has some nice eyes...wait a minute! Why do I like his eyes so much?_ Pietro blinked at his twin sister.

"Hey Wanda, you okay?"

"Oh, uh, nothing, nothing." Wanda mumbled, shaking her head. Pietro frowned at his twin in concern.

"They claimed that there's something strange going on here in Los Angeles." Cover Girl explained. Paul waved cheerfully to the group, a smile on his face.

"Uh, as I said earlier, hello. I'm Paul, and this surly guy next to me is my brother Craig. As you can tell, we're twins." The young mutant introduced himself. He noticed that Craig was just staring intently at the Misfits, as if he was carefully eyeing them up. "Craig, say hello!" Paul gave his twin a slight elbow to the side.

"Mm." Craig nodded. "'Sup?"

"Eh heh heh..." Paul chuckled, rubbing the back of Craig's head. "I'm sorry about Craig. He's not very social." Pietro, ever the stylish one, gasped in horror at Paul's outfit. His eyes widened, and his breathing went rapid.

"Oh, God! God, no! Dear God, no! Bad 80s flashback! AAAAAAGH!" Pietro, with the aid of his speed, raced away in horror at the sight of Paul's 1980's-style clothes.

"Pietro, you moron! Get back here!" Lance snapped. Craig watched Pietro run around screaming, and then turned to Lance.

"What is that salami-skull's problem?" Craig asked Lance. The geokinetic shrugged.

"No idea. We stopped trying to figure it out a long time ago."

"Terrific." Craig sighed. "Paul said you guys can help us out." He shook his head, and took a look at the members of the Misfits. "Somehow, I don't think this'll really work...huh?" Craig finally got a good look at Wanda. _Wow..._ He thought. _Who is __**that?**_

"How'd you meet these two?" Althea asked the Joes.

"They ran into us while running from Cobra Vipers." Lady Jaye explained. While she recounted the Joes' encounter, Paul happened to notice Craig was staring at Wanda, almost like the Scarlet Witch had him under a spell of some kind. The young 80s metalhead-looking mutant couldn't help but snicker.

_You like that girl in red._ Paul teased good-naturedly, using the telepathic link the brothers' minds had. Craig shot Paul the mental equivalent of a scowl.

_No I don't! She just…looks unusual, that's all._ Craig mentally replied. He pulled up the lapels of his black leather jacket in an attempt to hide the slight blush on his cheeks.

_Craig, this is LA. We've seen people who've looked wilder than her. She doesn't really look unusual compared to other people in this town. You aren't fooling me._ Paul replied. _I think it's tubular you finally found a girl you like. Ahh, amore…_

_OH SHUT UP!_ Craig cut off the link.

"Hi, I'm Althea Delgado, the Misfits' leader. They call me Wavedancer." Althea introduced herself with a smile, shaking Paul's hand. "And this hunk of man is my Toddles!" She hugged him like a plush toy with a grin.

"AL!" Todd whined, struggling slightly before getting out of her grip. "That's my girl, yo."

_It's all pity. She feels sorry for that pathetic frog-boy._ Craig grumbled, shaking his head at Paul.

_Craig, be nice. Everybody deserves to be loved._ Paul scolded. Craig rolled his eyes.

"I'm Todd Tolensky, yo. They call me Toad." Todd grinned, waving at the two brothers. He pointed at the Trinity. "And these three are Trinity. They're Althea's little sisters."

"Hi!" Daria greeted with a smile and a nod. "I'm Daria!"

"I'm Quinn." Quinn nodded.

"And I'm Brittany." Brittany finished. "We're the Trinity: Psychic scientists extraordinaire."

"Psychic scientists?" Craig blinked.

"They're geniuses, yo." Todd explained. "And they have psychic powers."

"We love to meet new people." The Trinity told the Starrs in unison. Craig shot a disturbed look at Paul.

_What the hell did we stumble into?_ Darkstar mumbled.

"I've never met actual triplets before." Paul admitted. He then noticed that two of the triplets were carrying a pair of unusual-looking babies: One seal-like and the other chicken-like. The chicken-like baby was holding the bat. "Oh, my..."

"These are Claudius and Barney." Daria introduced.

"I call Claudius Little C, yo." Todd added with a grin.

"Stars!" Claudius whooped.

"Bat! Bat!" Barney waved his bat. Craig raised his eyebrow.

"Okay..." The young mutant didn't know what to make of the toddlers. _I didn't even know it was possible to look like that at that age._

"Lance Alvers, aka Avalanche. Althea and I are the only sane ones around here." Lance chuckled, shaking Paul's hand. Craig put his hands up, making it clear he wasn't the hand-shaking type. Lance shrugged.

"Fred Dukes. They call me the Blob." Fred grinned, crossing his arms.

"I have no name." Xi told the twins. "Except for Xi. It is pronounced like the letter Z."

_Oh, God..._ Craig mentally groaned.

_Come on, man. Let it go._ Paul responded.

"I'm Wanda Maximoff. They call me the Scarlet Witch." Wanda introduced herself simply. She jerked her thumb at her hyperactive twin. "The hyperactive little speedy egomaniacal idiot running around screaming about fashion is my twin brother Pietro, aka Quicksilver."

"Oh wow. It's nice to meet another pair of twins." Paul grinned. "Totally stellar! Awesome to the max!"

_Man, there he goes again with the 80s speak._ Craig grumbled.

_**Well, looks like Paul and Craig have made new friends! What is Cobra up to? Can they be stopped? Will the Misfits get new members? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!**_


	3. Plans Revealed!

**Rising Starrs!**

**Disclaimer: "Hasta la vista, baby!" - Arnold Schwarzenegger as the T-800, Terminator 2: Judgment Day.**

Chapter 3: Plans Revealed!

**A secret Cobra HQ in Los Angeles**

"YOU **FOOLS!**" Dr. Mindbender roared in a fit of rage. He was in a Cobra lab hidden somewhere in the urban jungle that was known as Los Angeles. The bald mad scientist was snapping at a pair of identical-laooking men (Well, identical except for the fact that one in blue uniforms. Tomax and Xamot, the identical twin brothers who ran Cobra's elite troops known as the Crimson Guard. "You allowed those mutant twins to escape!"

"Dr. Mindbender, you must understand…" Tomax started.

"…those twins had hypnotic powers." Xamot finished.

"They made three Guardsmen…"

"…believe that they were chickens!" Mindbender groaned at the twin Cobra financiers. He started to close his eyes tightly and rub his temples.

"I provided you with the collars that can be used to shut their powers off." The mad scientist groaned. "Why didn't you just put them on them? It would've saved you a lot of trouble..." Xamot winced and rubbed his knee. Due to his Corsican Brother-esque bond, Tomax found himself doing and feeling the same thing. During Craig Starr's escape, the young mutant had whacked Xamot in the leg with his nightstick.

"Those twins..." Xamot started to answer.

"Are fighters." Tomax continued. "Even that one with the purple star. We didn't get..."

"A chance to put the collars on them!" Mindbender groaned louder at the twins' explanations.

"You two have clearly been spending way too much time in the office." Mindbender grumbled.

"At least people..."

"...people don't think of us..."

"As bizarre freaks." The Crimson Twins mocked.

"With _that _vocal tic?" Mindbender laughed. "I'm sure nobody thinks you two are freaky with that vocal tic. Oh no, nobody thinks you are freaky." The Twins scowled, and then waved it off. They had more important things in mind, anyway.

"Why in the world did…"

"…you need those stupid twins anyway?" Xamot grumbled, rubbing his sore leg again.

"For my research!" Mindbender grinned madly. "We know all about the X-Gene, and the powers it can grant. For some, the X-Gene makes them into hideous freaks of nature. For others, it grants the possibility of great power. I intend to find a way to artificially manufacture the X-Gene, and use it as Cobra's greatest weapon. Imagine, the world will tremble at mutants created to serve Cobra! We can take ordinary Cobra troopers and imbue them with any powers we wished. We can use troopers than can turn invisible and phase through solid matter as spies. Cobra agents with hypnotic powers can be used to bend world leaders to our will. And that's just for starters."

"Is that why you've been…" Tomax asked.

"…after those twins?" Xamot finished.

"Yes. They, with my other little subjects, are going to help me unlock the secrets of the X-Gene." Mindbender smirked. "I can't use Shadowatch to further my research, because Zartan would raise all kinds of hell."

"But you…" Tomax blinked.

"…have other urchin mutants in captivity. Why…" Xamot continued.

"…do you still need the Starr Brothers?" Tomax ended. Mindbender groaned.

"You fools! I don't _need_ them! I have plenty of mutants for my studies! If those two boys manage to alert the authorities, we'll be sunk! Not to mention that there are rumors that GI Joe and the Misfits are running around in town! If those boys encounter them, they'll swarm all over us!"

**The beach in Los Angeles**

The Misfits sat in a circle. With them were the GI Joes codenamed Recondo, Cover Girl, and Lady Jaye. The Starr brothers sat next to the Joes, but they were still in the circle.

"Alright, just to be straight about this." Craig looked around at the Misfits. "You guys are essentially are wards..." He jerked his thumb at the Joes. "...of these guys."

"You could say that." Recondo nodded.

"We do help them beat up Cobra on occasion." Fred added.

"Well, I think it's nice to meet you all." Paul smiled. "We really appreciate you guys helping us out here. And you got a buncha neat powers, too!" The young mutant pointed at Lance. "You have geokinetic abilities that are constantly evolving due to genetic damage."

"Yeah. Thanks to Magneto." Lance grumbled. "I'm not going to turn into a big rock-man like the Thing or anything, it's just sometimes I get…sick."

_Oh, I remember him. _Paul tried not to wince at the mention of the Master of Magnetism. _Me and John encountered him once._ The young mutant decided to change the subject. "You're an aquakinetic." Paul pointed at Althea.

"Yep." Althea grinned.

"He's a frog." Craig pointed at Todd.

"Toad, actually." Todd said. "Super powerful legs for leaping and kicking power, night vision, wall-sticking, and a long tongue." He then stuck out his tongue for demonstration.

"Cool! Just like Gene Simmons!" Paul grinned. Craig shook his head in disbelief.

"Ain't he cute?" Althea grinned, stroking Todd's hair.

_You have **got** to be kidding me._ Craig rolled his eyes in disbelief. _Paul thinks **these** guys can help us out? Now I **know** he's lost his mind._

"The screaming guy running around in circles at super speed back there is your twin brother." Paul said to Wanda.

"Unfortunately." Wanda sighed. She looked at Craig and felt her cheeks heat up a little. _What is __**wrong**__ with me? Ever since I first looked at him, I've been feeling funny._ Althea noticed this and let out a little mental snicker.

_It's finally happened to Wanda. I looked just like that when I first laid eyes on my Toddles._ Althea mentally released a happy sigh. _Oh, it was such a wonderful day. I opened that closet, and the mutant response to Brad Pitt was standing right there..._

"You were a genetically-created assassin." Paul pointed at Xi.

"Yes, but I chose…a different line of work." Xi nodded. "You seem to not be freaked out by my looks."

"I grew up in Hollywood. And I've seen a lot of horror and monster movies." Paul shrugged. "It'll take a lot more than lizard skin to scare me."

"I grew up in the streets. Nothing scares me." Craig shrugged. Paul then turned his head and blinked at Trinity. "And you three are telepaths...and are geniuses."

"That we are." Trinity nodded in unison.

"Whatever you do, do _not _accept invitiations to check out their lab." Althea warned.

"Lab?" Paul blinked in disbelief. "Uh..." He looked over at Craig.

"I don't wanna know!" Craig groaned. The Misfits snickered at Craig's little outburst.

"You're a hexcaster." Paul pointed at Wanda. He then put a finger on his chin in thought. "You know, I know of a nice shop that sells witchy stuff. You know: Spell books, crystal balls, tarot cards, that kind of thing." Wanda shot Paul a look that indicated that her interest was piqued.

"Remind me to remind you to show you where that place is."

_**What** place?_ Craig mentally scowled.

_You remember, that place we discovered last month, the one that had that old lady behind the counter?_ Paul reminded.

_Wait, are you talking about that time that that emo girl made that minotaur appear? Oh, God, I want to forget that day._ Craig mentally groaned.

"You know, my brother li-hey!" Craig swatted Paul upside the head. Paul rubbed his head and shot a faux glare at Craig. "That's totally not stellar, man."

_You should learn to keep your big yap shut, Paul!_ Craig snapped telepathically. The other Misfits blinked at this.

"Why do they keep glancing at each other like that?" Todd blinked.

"They're communicating." Daria realized. "They have telepathy."

"You should know, Toad." Lance reminded. "We've seen Trinity do that a buncha times."

"Oh yeah..." Todd blinked in realization.

"Only between ourselves." Paul explained. "We can't do it with anyone else. It's how we found each other."

"And believe me, I wish we didn't have this thing sometimes." Craig grumbled in irritation.

"You know Cover Girl, I just realized something. Look at them." Recondo whispered to Cover Girl and Lady Jaye. "They look exactly the same except for their birthmarks. However, they dress and act so differently. They're like polar opposites."

"Yeah." Lady Jaye agreed.

"Well of course, you guys." Cover Girl rolled her eyes. "They are identical twins, after all." She then furrowed her brow in thought. "I wonder if they have identical powers?"

"Logically, they should." Recondo shrugged. "Although the birthmarks don't say that."

"We do." Craig looked at the three Joes. "Have the same powers. Both Paul and I can fire laser beams out of the eyes our birthmarks surround. Our eyes can also create flashes of light that can blind or hypnotize people."

_That Craig does seem to have nice eyes..._ Wanda noted to herself. She then blinked and shook her head. _What is **wrong** with me?_ Pietro raised an eyebrow at his sister.

"What's up with you?" The silver-haired speedster hissed.

"None of your business." The hexcaster grumbled at her twin.

"Lasers? That's pretty cool." Lance nodded.

"Has its uses." Craig shrugged.

"...I prefer using hypnosis myself." Paul admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "Craig prefers the laser."

_Makes sense._ Lady Jaye thought. _Craig seems like the more aggressive twin, so he'd prefer the laser for offense. Paul's definitely the peaceful one, so he'd prefer the power that he can use as a defense. _

"So…" Althea asked the Starr brothers. "Why do you need our help?"

_**Well, looks like things are getting interesting? What insanity will happen next? Will the Misfits be able to stop Cobra's latest plan! Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Rising Starrs!**

**Disclaimer: "Yoda is one kooky puppet. He looks like mix of the Hulk and an old dwarf crackhead!" - Kyle "Thunderbolt" Wildfire on Yoda.**

Chapter 4: Origins Revealed!

**The beach**

"This is some serious stuff." Recondo explained to Craig. He and the three Joes were conversing on the beach. The Misfits were talking amongst themselves.

"We barely got out of there alive, pal." Craig spat. "Those Viper clowns are madmen! You think we're making this up or something?"

"No, we don't." Cover Girl reassured. "We are taking you seriously, Craig."

"So why is Mr. Safari over here looking at me like I'm talking outta my butt?" The young mutant scowled, jerking his thumb at Recondo. "Isn't it you guys' _job_ to take care of these Cobra guys? Well, we're telling you that Cobra is here, and you're not doing anything!" He threw up his hands in anger. "I knew it! I shouldn't have listened to Paul!" He started to stomp off, but was stopped by Lady Jaye putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Take it easy, Craig." Lady Jaye tried to calm the angry young man down. "We _are_ taking you seriously. If Cobra is in the area, we _will_ take care of it." Craig's nostrils flared angrily.

"Then why the hell aren't you _doing_ anything?"

"We have to figure out what exactly Cobra is up to before we do anything." Cover Girl explained.

"I _told_ you!" Craig snapped. "Some Cobra guys tried to kidnap us. We're not sure why...but I have my theories."

"What kind of theories?" Lady Jaye inquired. Craig shrugged.

"Well...I've been hearing about some kind of lab. Local kids, mainly mutants vanishing." He shook his head. "I didn't think much of it all at first. Thought it was just some ranting from some crazy people. Quite a few of those homeless guys are not quite all there in there in the head, you see. But then those Vipers came for us." He ran a hand through his wild black hair. "So we ran. And we've been running ever since." Meanwhile, most of the other Misfits were conversing amongst themselves.

"So, what do you think of those twins the Joes found?" Althea asked her teammates.

"We think they're kinda cute." Trinity answered in unison, big grins plastered on their faces.

"You're kidding, right?" Pietro groaned. "Did you see the clothes Paul wore? My God, you'd think that kid would join the rest of us in the 21st century!"

"Just leave it alone, Pietro." Fred rolled his eyes.

"I am curious about these twins." Xi scratched his chin in confusion. "Paul and Craig look identical, except for those stars on their faces."

"Yeah, that is kinda funny, yo." Todd chuckled.

"I think they're kinda neat." Althea smiled. "Makes 'em look like members of Kiss, you know." The hydrokinetic then smirked as she looked at Todd. "Of course, my favorite member was always Gene Simmons." The amphibious mutant blushed at Althea's smirk.

"Oh, God..." Wanda groaned, rubbing her forehead. Althea chuckled.

"Wanda, seriously. We gotta get you a man of your own." The aquakinetic then realized that Wanda had been glancing slightly at Craig. _I think maybe Wanda has found herself a man already..._

"First, we gotta find a guy either crazy and/or stupid enough to ask her out." Pietro snickered. Wanda scowled.

"You wanna get your head handed to you, dear brother?" The hexcaster growled. Meanwhile, Paul and Lance were conversing.

"Wanda, please don't kill Pietro." Daria implored.

"And why shouldn't I?" Wanda frowned at the Triplets.

"Because if you kill him, who will we experiment on?" Quinn explained.

"Yeah, we got some great new gadgets we want to try out on him back at the lab." Brittany grinned widely. Pietro's eyes widened and his face paled to a ghostly white that nearly matched his hair.

"Oh, dear God..." The speedster whimpered, scooting quickly away from the triplets. He didn't stop until he was behind the safest, most durable thing he could think of: The Blob. The Texan powerhouse blinked at Pietro, and then gave Trinity a dry look.

"I take it you three are still angry at Pietro for wrecking your candy-making machine."

"No, of course not. We forgave him." The Trinity answered in unison...then shifted their eyes at each other.

"It was an accident...I told them it was an accident..." Pietro whimpered. Fred sighed.

"Girls, you're going to give him severe trauma issues and psychosis if you keep this up."

"Anyway, I was wondering." Xi continued on. "If the Starr brothers are twins...why are their birthmarks different? I mean, they are both stars, but Paul's is purple and Craig's is black. Do they paint their birthmarks?"

"I don't think Craig is the type to do that." Fred shook his head. "Maybe it's just their mutations. Some X-Genes can put out some crazy results. Look at us."

"It's not that much different from me and Pietro, Xi." Wanda remarked. "We're twins, but our mutations are radically different."

"Ah, I see." Xi nodded. Pietro peeked up.

"Freddy, you gotta stop reading so much. It's making you no longer talk like you."

"What?" The young mutant codenamed Blob blinked. "It's not a crime to want to improve yourself."

"Speaking of people who need to improve themselves..." Pietro looked around. "Where is our resident rockhead?"

"He's talking to Paul." Althea answered, jerking her thumb behind her. A short distance away, the geokinetic and Paul Starr were having their own private conversation. "Lance learned that Paul was a musician, so the two of them got to talking."

"I see Lance still is holding on to those rock star dreams he has." Pietro remarked. He then noticed Wanda stealing a glance over at Craig, and trying to hide it. _What the hell is up with Wanda? She's been eyeing that Craig guy quite a bit._ The speedster's face formed a slight scowl as he looked at Craig, who was still taking with the Joes. _I'll have to keep an eye on him..._ Meanwhile...

"You play guitar, too?" Lance nodded at Paul's question. "Awesome!" The young mutant with the purple star birthmark grinned. "So do I! Where'd you learn?" Lance shrugged nonchalantly.

"I learned by listening to Aerosmith and Van Halen. How about you? You had lessons or something?"

"Me? No." Paul shook his head. "I learned by listening to Kiss. They're my favorite band."

"Yeah, Kiss are pretty cool." Lance nodded in agreement. He then noticed the album cover on Paul's shirt. "_Destroyer._ That's a hell of an album."

"I loved that album!" Paul remarked. "Listened to every track ten times over." He scrunched his face as he thought about a way to keep the conversation going. "You know, my brother Craig is a bass player." The geokinetic blinked at his new friend.

"He plays bass?" Paul nodded at Lance's question.

"Yeah, he does. He learned how to play his bass the same way I learned to play guitar: He listened to music, and he figured it out."

"Ah, I see." Lance nodded. "You know, it's too bad we don't have any drummers in the Misfits, otherwise we'd be able to get band going." He sighed in longing, running a hand through his long brown hair. "It's a bit of a dream of mine, to be in a band." Paul perked up even more, if that was possible.

"Really? Mine too. I want to be on that stage, singing my heart out and playing my guitar, to the delight of millions." Paul smiled. "It's good to have a dream."

"Yeah. It is. Hey...what's that?" Lance noticed something stick out of Paul's pocket.

"Oh, this?" Paul pulled out a picture. "It's of me at eight." Paul handed Lance the picture. The Misfit examined it. He noticed three smiling children in the photo. The child in the center was clearly a younger Paul Starr. The child to Paul's right was a skinny girl with short brown hair. The one to his left was a blond boy with a big crazy-looking grin.

_Hmm…_ Lance narrowed his eyes slightly. _The __blond kid in the picture looks a little familiar…Something about that grin... _"Hey Paul, who are the kids in there with you?"

"Oh, them? Well, the blond guy's named John. He was from Australia. He wasn't actually named that, but he preferred being called that." Paul explained. "The girl is named Jennifer. Her dad was a sheriff right here in LA." The dark-haired mutant then started to laugh as he found himself recalling a fond memory. "The three of us had all sorts of misadventures together and stuff." He looked at the photograph with a wistful smile. "John was always a little cracked in the head. Good guy, but not quite all there. Jenny was a real nice girl, although she lived in a strict household. Her father hated me and John." Paul then sighed sadly. "I haven't seen either of them in a long time." He then started talking further. Lance was listening, but his mind was going crazy with a train of thought that the picture was inspiring.

_Hmm, I know that blond kid in the picture is familiar...it's that grin...and he said the kid's name was John...no way!_ The elder mutant took a slight look at Paul. _Paul seems like a nice kid. Why would a nice kid like him hang out with a psycho like Pyro? _Lance frowned slightly. _Hmmm, we never did learn __much about Pyro's early life. Maybe there is more to that loon than anyone realized..._ A big thought struck him. _If Paul and Pyro were friends, then...does Paul know about him being in the Acolytes? Does Paul even know about Pyro being a mutant?_ He shook his head. He'd worry about that later. There were more important things to be concerned about right now. He noticed Paul sighing.

"Boy, what a life I lived. Once from being a rich kid to now living in an old movie studio."

"An old movie studio?" Lance blinked. Paul nodded.

"Yeah. The Fabulous Pictures studio."

"Fabulous Pictures..." Lance repeated to himself. "Weren't they the studio that did the _Attack of the Chainsaw Man_ movies?" Paul nodded.

"Yup."

"I always wondered what happened to them. They put out some good movies."

"Unfortunately, they went bankrupt in 1995." Paul explained. "They never tore down the old studio. It still resides here in Los Angeles."

"Really?" Lance grinned. "Do they still have the props and sets from all the movies and stuff?"

"Yeah, they do." Paul grinned back. "You oughta see it! They have that store set from that famous scene in _Attack of the Chainsaw Man 2_ where the shopkeeper fights off the Chainsaw Man with cans of baked beans. They really should make it into a museum."

"Awesome!" Lance grinned. He then decided to change the subject. "So. How'd you and your brother over there end up living in an abandoned movie studio?"

"Well, it's quite a strange tale." Paul explained. "And it's long, so I'll have to make it short. As babies, Craig and I were separated and abandoned. At least, that's what we can figure. We don't know who our real parents are. I'm not even sure which of us is the older twin. You see, I would end up being adopted by this rich family living here in LA. I ended up living a life of celebrities and champagne, if you will."

"Wow." Lance's eyes widened.

"My dad was a successful toy company executive and my mom did some acting work." Paul's cheerful voice took on a saddened tone. "However, they were killed by gang members. They were members of a gang that were rivals with a gang that Craig was a member of. A few months later, my powers emerged. Some unscrupulous people in my dad's company, using legal means, managed to cheat me out of my inheritance, and I ended up on the street." Lance shot Paul a sympathetic look. "It's...more complicated than that, but as I said, I'm giving you the Cliff's Notes version."

"That's harsh, dude."

"Yeah. It is." Paul nodded sadly. Then he perked up. "But luckily, my mutant gene gives me a telepathic link with Craig. It allows us to track each other and communicate with each other telepathically. Using it, I was able to find Craig and he let me live with him in this abandoned movie studio he found."

_Under protest._ Craig grumbled telepathically.

_Oh come on, dear brother._ Paul 'laughed'. _You know I made your life a little more interesting...and a little less lonely. _"We lived there for a while, until those Cobra guys caught us and tried to trash the place. We barely managed to escape, aaaand we're here."

"What about Craig?" Lance asked.

"Well…Poor Craig's had it rough. He grew up in a broken home, and it made him very bitter." Paul found himself shaking his head and rubbing his head slightly. Thanks to his telepathic link with Craig, he got to experience his brother's rough childhood memories firsthand. It was...uncomfortable for him. "He got into fights all the time at school, and he broke the law a lot. At age 12, he left home and joined a gang. His powers emerged the same time mine did. We both felt a strange urge to find each other. And that's what we did. The link that let us into each other's minds helped us find each other."

"Wow." Lance said. "But what of your friends Jennifer and John? Surely they…"

"I lived with Jenny's family for a while, until my powers emerged. And John…disappeared." Paul replied.

"Ah." Lance nodded. He noticed Paul had paused before saying John had disappeared, as if there was something more, but he couldn't say. _Hmm...maybe Paul __**does**__ know about what happened to Pyro._ Lance decided to let it drop. However, before he could question his newfound friend further, he sensed a presence behind him. The geokinetic turned around and saw Althea emerge from the still chatting group.

"Hey, guys." Althea greeted as she walked up to the two boys.

"Hey, Al." Lance waved. Paul only nodded with a smile. "How's it going?"

"I see you have found a friend in Paul here." Althea smirked in mirth, crossing her arms. Lance nodded.

"Yeah." Lance chuckled. "Turns out him and his brother have a talent for music. And we have a mutual love for Kiss, so we're thinking of maybe forming a band or something."

"The world's first all-mutant rock band." Paul grinned. "It would be huge!" Althea started to laugh.

"An all-mutant rock band. I'm sure that will fly real well."

"Hey, it could!" Paul defended. "What better way to bring people together than through music?"

"Man has a point." Lance shrugged.

"I'm sure that any music you guys make would do just that." Althea shrugged with a smile. "When you guys start, I want front-row tickets. Anyway, can I tell you something, Paul?"

"Yeah, sure. What?" Althea grinned at the young mutant with the purple star birthmark over his eye. She walked over to him and whispered something in his ear.

"I think your brother has gotten the attention of my friend Wanda over there, if you know what I mean." Paul blinked.

"Really?" Paul blinked. "Which one of you is Wanda again? The girl in red?" Althea nodded. Paul then glanced at Wanda. He nodded in understanding.

"Ah, I see. I sensed it from Craig as well, although good luck getting him to admit it. He's spellbound by her, although he wouldn't admit it." Paul grinned. Althea burst out laughing, confusing the mutant hypnotist. "What?"

"Sorry, it's just you said the word 'spellbound' in reference to Wanda." Althea laughed. "Let's just say that we call her the Scarlet Witch for a good reason."

"Well, the 'Scarlet' part I get because she is clearly fond of red..." Paul scratched his head. "But I don't get the 'Witch' bit. Is she a magician?" Althea shrugged.

"Sort of. Her mutant powers allow her to mess with probability."

"Probability?" Paul blinked. Althea nodded.

"Yup. Essentially, she can play with the odds. Y'know, like increasing the chances of winning the lottery and stuff." Paul nodded in understanding as Wanda walked up.

"That's a weird power."

"Not really." Wanda remarked with a shrug. "Sometimes, it's a pretty cool." She pointed at Pietro, who was looking out at the ocean. "Watch." The dark-haired teenager formed a hexbolt and tossed it into the water. Suddenly, a tidal wave rose up and doused Pietro.

"AAAGH! HEY! WANDA!" Pietro screamed, instantly figuring out what had happened. Wanda laughed happily.

"Oh _man,_ I never get tired of that!" Wanda laughed. "I love being a hexcaster!"

**A desert island in the middle of nowhere.**

"Uhn..." Cobra Commander groaned as he opened his eyes underneath his blue helmet. "Ohhhh..." He lifted his head. "Huh?" He got up and looked around. He found himself on a small uninhabited island. "What the-?! Where am I?" He started to walk the coast of the island. "What's going on here? Who did this to me?!" He explored the island for a while, growing more frustrated and confused. "WHERE IS EVERYBODY? _**AHHHHH **__**&$#! &$#! &$#! &$#!**_" Cobra Commander started to jump up and down in place. He was clad in his regular blue helmet, a Hawaiian shirt, and shorts. "How in the HELL did I end up here?!" He threw his arms up in the air. "I don't get it! How'd I get here?! One minute, I was on my personal plane to Hawaii and I fall asleep. The next minute, I ended up here! How did this happen?!"

_**Well, looks like we learned more about our two new friends! What insanity will happen next? What more will we learn about the Starrs? What is Cobra up to? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!**_


	5. The Witch and The Thug!

**Rising Starrs!**

**Disclaimer: "DUNCAN MATTHEWS IS IN LOVE WITH SCOTT SUMMERS?" - Lance Alvers, from soulstress's fic "Tempest". **

**Author's Note: This chapter is for soulstress. She gives out some funny reviews. This is inspired a little bit by a suggestion she gave me.**

Chapter 5: The Witch and the Thug

**A local beach**

Craig Starr scowled with his arms crossed as he saw his twin brother Paul and Lance Alvers of the Misfits chat. He turned his head and saw the three adult Joes, the tank specialist Cover Girl, the jungle warfare expert Recondo, and the covert operations specialist Lady Jaye, conversing amongst themselves.

_This is ridiculous!_ He shook his head. _I knew it! They aren't going to do anything. I shouldn't have listened to Paul._ The young mutant snorted and stomped off. Wanda looked up at him, concern etched on the young mutant woman's face.

"Wanda, what's up?" Althea blinked.

"Black Star over there is trying to stomp off." The hexcaster explained. "I'm going to go after him and keep him from doing something stupid." She started to walk after him. Althea smiled at Wanda.

"I got a feeling that you got more on your mind than just keeping him out of trouble."

"Hey! _Hey!_" Wanda caught up with Craig. "Where are you going?"

"_Away_ from that lovefest." Craig grumbled. "I knew I shouldn't have listened to Paul! What the hell was I thinking, going along with his crazy idea to get help from those GI Joe guys?"

"What're you, crazy? Cobra could still be after you." Wanda exclaimed. "Maybe you should stick around. Cobra isn't just going to let you get away. They're never going to leave you two alone."

"I'm not afraid of some snake-wannabe clowns!" Craig snapped at the Scarlet Witch.

"Good for you." Wanda mocked. "Do you have any idea who exactly Cobra are?"

"I don't really know who Cobra is, I don't really care who Cobra is, and it doesn't matter to me what Cobra is. But I bet you're going to tell me anyway."

"You're exactly right I will." Wanda nodded. "Cobra are some really bad folks, Craig. They're your standard ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world."

"So? The Crips and the Bloods want to do the same damn thing." Craig let out his equivalent of a joke. Wanda blinked in confusion. "The Crips and the Bloods. They're two of the biggest gangs in this city. Even people outside this city know who they are."

"I know _that_." Wanda frowned. "I just don't get your little crack about them trying to rule the world."

"It's an L.A. thing. You have to have grown up in L.A. to understand."

"Ah." Wanda nodded. "Cobra isn't just some foulmouthed street gang. These are dangerous people. Sure, their top brass are a bunch of insane morons, but they're still dangerous."

"I'm not afraid of some goofy so-called terrorist organization, witchy woman." Craig growled. Wanda sighed. The hexcaster then decided to try a different tactic to appeal to the angry young mutant.

"Well, what about your brother?" Wanda asked. "Aren't you afraid for him?" Craig scowled.

"_You_ should talk. That silver-haired freak back there was your brother, right?" Wanda nodded at Craig's inquiry. "You smack your brother around all the time based on what I overheard from the others. You don't seem to worry very much about that jerk." Wanda thought about what Craig had just said.

"Okay, I admit it. You do have a point…" The hexcaster admitted. "But that doesn't mean I don't worry about the big screwball. After all, we are family." She smiled at Craig. "I know you act like you can't stand your brother, but I know that you care about him deep down." Craig sighed. He then looked up at Wanda. He didn't quite understand it, but there was something about the female Misfit. She certainly was beautiful, but there was something more about her. He looked into her eyes...and a strange feeling came over the young mutant.

"I…suppose." Craig reluctantly admitted with a shrug. "Is that why were you following me?" _What is wrong with me?_ He mentally muttered to himself.

"Well, _someone_ has to watch your back in case Cobra tries to re-capture you." Wanda responded. "After all, they're not just going to leave you and your brother alone."

"I don't _need_ anyone to watch my back. I've survived on these streets since I was twelve years old." Craig removed his nightstick from his belt and showed it to Wanda. "This old nightstick and I have been friends for a very long time. Got it off an LA cop."

"Why're you showing me your stolen nightstick?" Wanda frowned. Craig shrugged.

"I'm just saying. Look...Wanda, right?" Wanda nodded at Craig's question. "Do you know why I'm not afraid of Cobra? Because I've seen some scary stuff in my time." He ran a hand through his long black hair. "Keep in mind, we live in a world of superheroes and mutants and all sorts of other crazy stuff. You know that sorcerer guy, Doctor Strange?"

"I've heard of him." Wanda nodded. "You met Doctor Strange?"

"Paul and I did once. About a couple months ago. Some demons were trying to muscle in on the street gangs here." Craig explained. "So I've seen some crazy stuff."

"Still..." Wanda sighed.

"And..." Craig continued. "...I've _done_ some crazy stuff. I've taunted cops. I helped fight demons. I've run with a gang. I've stolen, I've scraped, and I've lived in boxes. I hated it, but I accepted it. As far as I was concerned, it was a heck of a lot better than living at home."

"What do you mean?" Craig looked up at Wanda's eyes.

_I know those eyes._ Craig mused. _They're the eyes of someone who has been through some crazy stuff themselves. And...her eyes are...unique. _"Let's just say...I got a bad roll of dice when it came to parents. My old man thought of me and the old lady as the living embodiment of all the frustration he ever suffered in his life. My mother...she did her best. She tried to protect me from the old man's rampages. She wasn't book-smart, but she was good with people. Shame she had bad taste in men. I did manage to learn one good thing from all that insanity."

"What?" Wanda asked. Craig looked up at the LA skyscrapers.

"...Never hit a woman." The star-marked mutant answered. "My old man used her as a punching bag...when he wasn't using me or was bored with using me as one. He'd knock me around for no reason, or as he was fond of saying: 'My reasons, boy, and you don't need to know'." He rubbed the back of his head. "When I was 12, I got sick of it, beat the old man ten ways to Sunday, packed my stuff, then got the heck out of there. My powers manifested not long after that. I've been living pretty much on my own ever since. Mostly lived in the streets and stole to get by. I did come in and out of homeless shelters on occasion."

"You're not the only one of us who had a crappy childhood." Wanda sighed. "I spent many years in an asylum. You thought your old man was bad? Guess who mine is. Magneto." She smirked sardonically. "That's right. Magneto. Mr. Mutant-Superiority-Hypocrite himself."

"I know who he is." Craig nodded. "Some local mutants have joined his so-called 'cause'." Craig's face formed a scowl. "The man's a joke. No offense."

"No, I agree. He claims to want to help mutants, but he really is a madman. He's experimented on his own people. I should know. Thanks to his experimentation, I end up with a big dysfunctional family. I have a half-brother who looks like a blue demon, and a Southern half-sister who can't touch anybody. It is a real pain." Wanda took a breath. "He wasn't exactly Father of the Year, either. You know what he did to me? He locks me away in an asylum, and when I hunt him down to hex his head in, you know what he does? He has his little monkey Mastermind mess with my head, giving me false memories of a happy childhood." Craig's eyes widened, then he blinked in disbelief.

"Are you serious?"

"As anything." The hexcaster nodded. "One of the Joes cleared my mind of the false memories when I came to the Pit for the first time." **(1)**

"Huh." Craig blinked. "And here I thought that I had the worst father in the world."

"Not by a longshot, pal. Not by a longshot." Wanda shook her head. She then decided to change her tactic. "So...how'd you meet your brother? I assume you didn't grow up with him."

"No, I did not." Craig admitted. "But I know plenty about him. You see, you ever hear about twins and having this strange ability to sense things between them?"

"I am a twin myself, I know what you mean." Wanda nodded. "One time, when I was eight, I had this feeling. I couldn't explain it, but...I knew it was about Pietro. Sure enough, Pietro fell and hurt his leg."

"Yeah, well...with me and Paul, it's literal." Craig sighed. "You see...he and I have a telepathic link. We can't read other people's minds, but we can read each other's. We also can see each other's memories." He pinched the bridge of his nose.

_Wow._ Wanda thought. _Craig and I do have some stuff in common, alright._

"It's a real pain." Craig sighed. "That's the reason I don't like telepathy, really."

"I'm grateful I don't have _that_ with Pietro." Wanda smirked with a chuckle. "I have no idea what goes on in that idiot brother of mine's head half the time, and I am perfectly happy not knowing."

"I can imagine." Craig nodded. "...Now that I think about it, compared to your silver-haired goof of a brother...Paul isn't so bad." Craig admitted. "The thing that bothered me the most about him was that whenever we lived in that old movie studio, that's another story, Paul would always talk."

"About what?" The probability manipulator wondered.

"Getting a real home. Again, in his case." The hypnotist shrugged. "He said someday, we'd get a real home and a real family." Craig scoffed. "As if _that_ will ever happen. I'm no fool. I know that not every cloud has a silver lining, despite what my ever-happy brother thinks."

_Yup._ Wanda smiled to herself. _Just like me. Full of anger and little hope. _"I thought the same thing you did Craig." She nodded. "Until I was brought into the Misfits. Back when I was brought in, we were the Brotherhood of Mutants, working under Magneto. It was me, Toad, Avalanche, Blob, and Quicksilver." Wanda smiled as she remembered some of the old Brotherhood antics. "The guys were crazy, always screwing up. I think my joining was the only time the Brotherhood ever really beat down the X-Men."

"The X-Men?" Craig blinked. "I've heard of them. Buncha costumed clowns."

"That's pretty much what we thought of them." Wanda grinned. "But...over time, things changed." Wanda explained how the Brotherhood became the Misfits, from Toad being kicked off the airplane by Magneto and being found by the Joes, to their beach trip.

"So, you found yourself a little family." Craig noted. Wanda nodded.

"Yeah." Wanda smiled. "The Joes didn't think of us as monsters. They saw us for what we were: Shattered, scared kids."

"Hhmph." Craig snorted. "Sounds a little too fairy-tale to me." The hexcaster chuckled.

"That's what I thought about the Joes too, at first." She admitted. "But they won me over." She looked up at Craig. _What is going on here? What is it about this guy? I look at him and I feel…weird. When I see his eyes, they show he's been through so much. I do understand him and sympathize with him, and...I think I need to talk to Cover Girl._ As the two walked, a Cobra soldier peeked out from under the sand of the beach. He produced a walkie-talkie from his uniform's belt, and put it to his red scarf-covered lips.

"Viper to base. I've found one of the escaped mutants."

"Alright. Follow and wait for further instructions." Dr. Mindbender's voice ordered from the device.

_**Uh oh! Looks like Craig and Wanda are in trouble! What will happen next? Will Cobra catch Craig? Will the Misfits be able to save the day? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!**_

**(1)**** – Lifeline did this to Wanda in "The Misfit Chronicles".**


	6. Attack and Talks!

**Rising Starrs!**

_To Sparky Genocide: Hey there Sparky! Pietro teasing Wanda about her thing for Craig? I don't know. Pietro's done some pretty dumb things in his time, but that's just plain suicide. I have a feeling that Pietro would be very scared to voice his opinions about the whole thing. And the Misfits aren't in Bayville right now._

_To Red Witch: Hey there, Red Witch! I've read the new chapter of "This Soap Opera Called Life", as well as your one-shots, and as usual, they rock! Poor Duke. I hope he makes it okay. I'm glad you liked seeing Craig and Wanda bond. Can't wait for more from you and I hope you like this new chapter right here!_

_To Raliena: Hey there, Rae! I'm glad you liked the last chapter! I hope you like this new one full of insanity! Yeah, it is a bad idea to tick off the superpowered thug with a nightstick and a hair-trigger witch who can screw with probability._

**Disclaimer: "Mick…you ignorant slut." - Mick Jagger as Keith Richards to Mike Myers as Mick Jagger, "Saturday Night Live" (The _funniest_ SNL line ever!)**

Chapter 6: Attack and Talks!

**A nearby cafe**

Craig Starr sat at a table, a glass of soda in his hand. When the raven-haired young mutant wasn't sipping at his drink, he was staring down at the glass filled with his carbonated beverage. Wanda Maximoff sat across from him, sipping some water. The two young mutants found themselves in a local cafe, deciding to have some drinks. Thanks to her Joe-Com, the Joes were aware of her location, so the Scarlet Witch wasn't too worried.

"Why would Cobra be after _us?_" Craig grumbled in confusion, looking up at Wanda. "They had other homeless folks and mutants captured. It's not like they were that desperate for test subjects."

"I guess they needed as many subjects as possible." Wanda suggested with a shrug. "Not to mention they wanted to make sure you wouldn't say anything about what was going on in that place. Do you have any idea where they are located currently?"

"Not really." Craig admitted with his own shrug. "It's a bit of a blur, you see. The area was full of warehouses, and they all looked the same." The hexcaster blinked in amazement at Craig's answer.

"Then...how'd you get out?" Craig scratched his chin thoughtfully in response to Wanda's question.

"Turns out...my dear brother's crazy luck came to the rescue." He answered simply. "One of the guards screwed up at his post, and naturally, we took the opportunity to run like hell from there. We've been hiding out from them ever since." Craig snickered to himself. "I _lived_ through that, and I still can't believe it happened."

"Well, _that's_ helpful." Wanda remarked sarcastically. Craig rolled his eyes.

"Well, the warehouse was rather anonymous-looking." Craig drawled. "There weren't really any signs on it or anything to make it stand out."

"Are you serious?" The probability manipulator gave Craig a look.

"The lab was underneath a warehouse at the docks not too far from here." Craig explained with a groan. "As I said, the place is well hidden. That's because it's in the middle of an area that is essentially a sea of warehouses. And they all look alike. You'll get very confused and go crazy trying to find anything there. I lived in this city all my life and _I_ still get confused in that area."

"Hmm..." Wanda frowned in thought. "If the area is like you describe it, the Joes are going to have one helluva time searching it for the lab you were talking about."

"You said it." Craig concurred, sipping his soda. Inspiration to take the conversation in another direction hit the former gang member. _Wanda and I do have one thing in common...annoying twins. Maybe I can talk about that._ "...How do you do it?"

"How do I do what?" Wanda blinked.

"Put up with that brother of yours." Craig answered, looking at the female mutant across from him. "He seems like an idiot."

"Sometimes I think he's the biggest idiot in the world." Wanda sighed, shaking her head. "All he thinks about is himself and girls." Craig found himself chuckling slightly. "I'm serious! Not to mention his pranks."

"Pranks?"

"Yeah, his pranks." Wanda nodded, taking a sip of her drink. "He likes to play pranks on people." Craig raised an eyebrow.

"I take it that his pranks don't make him very popular amongst your friends?"

"Not really." Wanda shrugged. "He likes to do stupid crap like replace Althea's half-and-half with Lactaid."

"Althea..." Craig blinked. "She's the one with the black-and-blue hair, right?" Wanda nodded. "Hmm. Makes me kinda glad that Paul isn't a prankster." He found himself smiling slightly.

_Wow..._ Wanda tried not to gape._ He does have a nice smile. I wonder why he doesn't show it as much._

_God, this girl._ Craig thought. _What is she doing to me?_

"...He also fancies himself a bit of a Lothario." Wanda continued, trying to continue the conversation. "He actually was quite popular with girls in Bayville."

"Bayville?" Craig blinked in confusion. _I know I've heard that name before..._

"A town in New York." Wanda explained. "Kind of a dull town. Not a lot to do there." Her tablemate scowled slightly.

"Isn't that where those X-Men hang out?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Wanda blinked in surprise.

"...I've heard things about the X-Men." Craig explained with a shrug. "Word passes around quickly on these streets." He waved at the street to emphasize his point. "Let's just say they have...an interesting reputation. Let's just say that quite a few mutants on the streets aren't exactly fond of the X-Men."

"Really?" Wanda perked up. _I'm sure that the others may like to hear this._

"Mm." Craig nodded, sipping his drink. "All the craziness they caused. It's really not helped us mutants out, if you know what I mean. Gave us a bad rep."

"That's not a surprise." Wanda smirked. "My group has been brawling with them for a long time."

"You guys are with those Joes, right? That makes you guys the so-called 'good guys'." Craig frowned in slight confusion.

"We are." Wanda nodded. "So are the X-Men. But just because we are the good guys, doesn't mean we all have to like each other."

"Point." Craig conceded. He decided to change the subject. "You say your brother is a bit girl-crazy, right?" Wanda nodded. "Yeah. My brother's not as bad, but he wouldn't complain about the company of a pretty girl." The mutant hypnotist/optic blaster rolled his eyes. "His big dream, however, is rock 'n' roll stardom." Craig shook his head with a small smile. "He wants to be a rock star, you see. He knows how to play guitar and a little bit of piano. He taught himself by listening to music as a kid."

"Can you play any instruments?" Wanda asked. Craig nodded.

"Actually, yeah. I can play bass guitar. Like Paul, I learned a little from listening to music...and I once had a friend who taught me a little." His head lowered slightly. "...He was killed in a drive-by."

"I'm sorry." Wanda apologized sincerely. Craig waved it off.

"You didn't shoot him. You have nothing to apologize for." Craig reassured the mutant probability manipulator. "One of the main ways we got money was to play music on corners. We managed to make a surprising amount of cash on that." Craig shrugged. "People would say that we were very talented, can make it big if we wanted to. Paul loved it. He wants to be a big-time rock star one day. Haven't really thought much about it, to be honest with you." He looked up at Wanda. "So…Misfits, huh? What do you guys do?"

"You can say that...we're kind of like superheroes." Wanda replied with a smirk.

"Ah, I see." Craig nodded in understanding. "You run around in funny colorful outfits saving the day and other garbage like that. Like those goofy characters in all the comic books."

"Haven't you ever wanted to be a superhero in your life?" Wanda wondered. "I'm sure everyone has."

"...Not really." Craig admitted, looking down at his drink. "I always thought it was kinda silly, to be honest with you. I don't really hate 'em, I just never cared for it."

"Yeah, I can understand where you're coming from." Wanda admitted. "I didn't exactly have the best of childhoods myself."

"Really?"

"Yeah...you ever heard of Magneto?" Craig blinked at Wanda's question.

"Of course I have." Craig answered. "Haven't met the man himself, though. He sends out people among the homeless, hoping to find more mutants for his cause." A scowl crossed his face. "I encountered one of his little feelers once." Wanda stared in fascination as Craig continued his story. "Started saying the same bullcrap he gave other mutants. Went on about how Magneto was the future, how he was gonna liberate our kind, yada yada yada." He scoffed. "I told him to go screw himself."

"Didn't want to be part of 'the future', huh?" Wanda smirked. Craig scoffed.

"'The future'. Sure." He chuckled bitterly. "I may not be the smartest of guys, but I haven't survived these streets for this long without some smarts. And good instincts." Craig tapped his nose. "And those very instincts told me to stay far away from Magneto. He seemed no different than any other gang leader to me."

"He's not." Wanda told her new companion. "He's a terrorist. A very dangerous man...and can be a real monster." Craig noticed her face darken and her fist clenching.

"...You okay?"

"...He's also my father." Wanda sighed. Craig blinked in surprise.

"...You're joking."

"I wish I was." The hexcaster sighed.

"Wow." Craig shook his head. Not much did, but this threw him for a loop. He didn't know what to say to this. "That...that must've sucked."

"You bet it did." Wanda grunted. "Bastard locked me up in an asylum. He couldn't handle my powers, so he decided to dump me on some doctors."

"...Wow." Craig mumbled. "That's rough."

"I got through it. I had help from good people." Wanda explained.

"Those Joe guys?"

"Yup." Wanda smiled slightly. "They have this one called Lifeline. He has this healing touch."

"...These Joe guys have mutants on their team?" Craig blinked in surprise.

"Well, technically, Lifeline is not a mutant." Wanda clarified, sipping her drink. "He's an esper."

"A what?" Craig blinked in disbelieving confusion.

"A normal human with some psychic abilities." Wanda explained. "He beat Sabertooth with that power once." Craig blinked.

"Who?"

"One of my _dear_ daddy's flunkies."

"Ah."

"Yup."

"...Are you trying to shoot me some kinda sales pitch?" Craig asked. Wanda shook her head.

"No. You asked me about the Misfits, and that's how we ended up having this conversation." The hexcaster smiled slightly.

_Wow._ Craig blushed. _That smile..._ He tried to shake it off.

"What's wrong?" Wanda inquired in concern.

"Nothing." He answered quickly. Something then caught the corner of his eye. A shadow moving around a bush.

"What the-?" He began looking around, his face showing suspicion. "I could've sworn..."

"What is it?" Wanda wondered.

"Something's…off." Craig replied, whipping his head around. Living on the streets of Los Angeles had given the young mutant strong instincts, instincts that allowed him to survive some rather hairy situations. His eyes widened as he saw the top of a blue helmet peeking out of a bush. "Someone's here!"

"Who-?!"

"Gotcha, muties!" A Cobra Viper leapt out of the bushes and started firing his machine gun.

"Down!" Wanda ordered. The Scarlet Witch and Craig quickly flipped up a table and ducked behind it.

"Who is _that?!_" The ex-gang member yelped.

"A Cobra Viper. They're Cobra's foot soldiers." Wanda explained. "They're a dime a dozen." Craig peeked up and his right eye, the eye covered by his birthmark of a black perfect 5-pointed star, glowed purple.

"His machine gun's nothin' compared to my laser!"

_**Sheeow!**_

He fired a dark purple-colored laser from his eye. The laser hit the Cobra Viper's gun, blasting it out of his hand and making him scream in shock. Wanda then sprung up to her full height, and pitched a hex-bolt. The hex-bolt hit the Viper, sending him flying. Craig nodded in approval.

"Nice shot."

"...Thanks." Wanda blushed slightly. She heard clicking. "What the-?" The two young mutants looked around, and found themselves surrounded by Cobra Vipers, their assault rifles pointed straight at them.

"...I think we're gonna need some help." Craig remarked.

"No kidding." Wanda agreed, quietly activating her Joe-Com.

_**Well, well, well. Looks like Wanda and Craig are in big trouble! What will happen next? What'll happen to Craig and Wanda? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!**_


	7. Rescue!

******Rising Starrs!**

**Author's Note: Hey folks! L1701E here! This chapter contains a very special cameo. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: "Put your pants back on right now, you insane fool!" - Me**

Chapter 7: Rescue!

******A desert island in the middle of nowhere**

"Why me?" Cobra Commander moaned. The terrorist leader was sitting on the island, leaning back against a palm tree. "All I wanted to do was create an organization that would allow me to rule the world and bend it to my whim. And it ends up containing liars and sneaks that are worse than me, a squad of insane stupid smelly bikers led by a trio of psychotic siblings (and their own squad of crazy mutants)..."

"Caw!" A bird whooped as it flew overhead.

"Shut up!" Cobra Commander yelled, leaping to his feet and pitching a rock at the bird. He then sighed and slumped back under his tree. "I also got a mad geneticist who fancies himself a rap video dancer, a Scotsman who enjoys making me look stupid, an Eastern European broad who plots constantly, and I never get to finish my &$&$&$ coffee!" The Commander sighed. "You what it's like right?" Silence followed. "Yeah, I thought so. Thanks for listening to me. No else does." Cobra Commander turned, and it was realized he was talking to a volleyball with a red face painted on it. "Thanks, Wilson. You're the best."

**The beach in Los Angeles**

"I hope my brother is okay." Paul remarked to Cover Girl. The two, as well as Lady Jaye, were walking on the beach. Recondo was keeping an eye on the other Misfits as they went back to their beach activities. "He's done this before. He always does come back, but I can't help but worry about him."

"Don't worry, Paul. I'm sure he's fine." Cover Girl reassured. "And besides, Wanda's with him. She's one of the toughest members of the team."

"Wanda's the girl in red, right?" Paul blinked. Cover Girl nodded in confirmation.

"Oh yeah." Lady Jaye chuckled. "You know, the Scarlet Witch once defeated the X-Men by herself?"

"The X-Men?" Paul frowned in thought. "Oh, those mutant vigilantes."

"You know of them?" Lady Jaye blinked.

"Saw them on TV a couple times." Paul shrugged. "Quite a few of the street kids have heard of them. Reception to them out here is...mixed."

"Mixed, huh?"

"Yup." Paul shrugged. "Some people hate 'em, others are embarrassed by them. Me, I don't mind 'em so much. I think they mean well, it's just things tend to go wrong with them. Like they're cursed or something."

"Does seem that way." The tank driver nodded in agreement. She noticed the design on Paul's t-shirt.

"...What?" Paul blinked. "Something on my shirt?"

"I guess you like Kiss, huh?" Cover Girl deduced. The young mutant grinned.

"Who doesn't? They're the hottest band in the world!"

"They are a great band." Lady Jaye chuckled. "Heard their latest album?"

"Yup!" Paul nodded. "Managed to save up enough money thanks to busking to buy their new CD. I wish I could go see them at a show."

"You busk?" Lady Jaye blinked. Paul nodded.

"Yup. Craig and I like to play at the park. People put money in our guitar cases." The young mutant smiled. "You oughta hear us sometime. We play all the classics. People say I sound a little like Paul Stanley when I sing."

"You look a little like Paul Stanley, you know that?" Cover Girl remarked.

"Yeah, now that you think about it..." Lady Jaye cocked her head. "I can see a slight resemblance."

"Heh heh, thanks." Paul blushed, his head pointing downward. "I've gotten that quite a bit. It's the birthmark."

"Yeah." Lady Jaye chuckled. "It does help."

"I like it." Paul smiled. "Unfortunately, when we go anywhere where we have to be around a lot of people, Craig and I have to wear makeup to hide the birthmarks." He sighed slightly. "It's a shame. California is more mutant-friendly than many other states, but we still have our fair share of people who want to crucify me and my brother simply because of this." He pointed at his birthmark. "Well, these and the fact that we can fire laser beams from our eyes, and hypnotize people with flashes of light."

"Yeah, it is a shame." Lady Jaye agreed. "Mutants really aren't much different than regular people."

"Luckily, here in California, most people are cool with mutants. Anyway, I've heard that the Misfits live on an army base. Is that true?"

"Yeah, kind of." Cover Girl answered. "It's no ordinary base."

"No surprise, considering the Joes are no ordinary soldiers." Lady Jaye added with a chuckle. Paul observed the other Misfits interacting.

"I noticed that the other Misfits seemed to have known each other for a long time." Paul remarked. "Pretty close-knit bunch, they are."

"Well, they've been together for a long time. Some of them were a group before the Misfits were formed." Cover Girl replied. She told Paul the story of how the Misfits were formed.

"Wow." Paul mumbled in amazement. "That's some story. Sounds like some epic comic book." He then shrugged. "But who am I judge? I got superpowers."

"Yeah, we've become a little family, as crazy as it is." Cover Girl smiled. "Those kids drive me nuts at times, but I will admit...I have grown to adore them. You should've seen what they did for me on Mother's Day." Lady Jaye burst out laughing.

"Oh, I remember that!" The Ranger chortled. "It was great! I will admit, that cake was good, though. Didn't think that you could make a cake that was actually that good with those ingredients."

"Surprised me, too." Cover Girl chuckled. Paul found himself thinking about his former family, and it made the young mutant sigh.

"...You alright, kid?" Lady Jaye noticed the young mutant's slightly sad expression.

"Who, me?" Paul blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry, it's just hearing that story. It brings back some memories of things I would do for my mother." He sighed sadly. "You see, it's...it's been a very long time since I had a real family. I have my brother, but...but that's it. For most of my life, he and I were completely unaware of each other's existence. If it weren't for our mutant powers emerging, we never would've known." Paul drooped his head sadly. "My mom and dad were great to me. I miss them."

"I'm sure someday you'll find what you want." Cover Girl reassured the young mutant. Paul nodded.

"I hope so. Craig wants a family too, but he never admit it. He's very private, you see." Paul explained.

"...you said that you and your brother became aware of each other thanks to your powers." Cover Girl remembered. "How, if I may ask?"

"Sure." The tank driver's new friend answered. "Craig and I have a sort of psychic link. We can use it to communicate telepathically. Not long after we manifested our powers, we started seeing each other's memories. It confused me and really disturbed him." The wannabe rocker chuckled. "It's why he hates telepathy and is so paranoid around telepaths."

"I see..." Cover Girl nodded.

"You know, I still can't get over that birthmark of yours, kid." Lady Jaye chuckled. "It reminds me so much of Paul Stanley."

"They called him Starchild. My mom also called me that." Paul's face formed a sad, wistful smile. "But there was more than one reason she called me that. She and Dad found me on a starry night, you see. My dad would joke that I was a 'child of the stars'. You want to know one of my favorite memories? When I was five, Mom would read me a story before I went to sleep. And then she would say to me: 'Good night, little Starchild.'"

"Sounds like they loved you very much." Lady Jaye gave her young companion a sympathetic look.

"They did." Paul nodded sadly. "Then they died, and I had my inheritance stolen from me by some unscrupulous executives who didn't want me to have my money. They feared what a mutant would do with access to a huge bank account." Paul sighed. "That's how I ended up on the streets."

"That's some story." A female voice remarked. Paul, Cover Girl, and Lady Jaye looked up and saw Althea Delgado walk up to them. "Sorry if I overheard."

"It's alright." Paul waved his hand nonchalantly. "It's not exactly a big secret."

"It's a real shame." Althea nodded in understanding. "I would admittedly be a bit hard-pressed on what to do if I lost my dad, considering that I already lost my mother..."

"Your mother passed away?" Paul blinked.

"She's dead to me, and let's just leave it at that." Althea answered simply, trying to keep the harshness out of her voice.

"Uh..." Paul looked to the two female Joes he was talking to.

"Long story, let's just leave it at that." Cover Girl explained.

"Oh-kay..." The young mutant scratched his head. "I get the feeling there's a strange story behind this."

"I _lived_ it and I still don't believe it." Althea muttered to herself. She then shrugged it off. "So...it's been a while since you guys had a real home, huh?"

"Well...yes, why?" A blinking Paul admitted. A playful smirk danced onto Althea's face.

"Well, I was thinking." The aquakinetic explained. "You know, you could come live with us as a Misfit." Althea offered. "We could use more members." Paul blinked when he heard that.

"…Me? A Misfit?"

"Yeah."

"You mean, like fight supervillains and stuff?" Paul blinked. Althea nodded. "Yeah, but what about Craig? I can't join the Misfits without him. For most of my life, I never knew I had a brother until my mutant powers emerged and I gained access to his memories. I don't want to leave him behind. He's all I got for family."

"Althea..." Lady Jaye frowned. "Can we talk to you in private for a minute?"

"What?" The leader of the Misfits wondered as she, Cover Girl, and Lady Jaye walked a short distance away from Paul.

"Don't you think that now is not the best time to throw a recruitment pitch?" The javelin-throwing Ranger warned.

"Those Starr brothers would be great recruits!" Althea countered with a harsh whisper. "They have no home, and they'd allow us to have a more equal membership to the X-Men."

"Althea..." Cover Girl sighed. "This isn't a contest. We're not competing with the X-Men for new people."

"Oh, come on!" Althea groaned, throwing her hands up in the air. "Guys, you know that the X-Men have a huge advantage over us! There's more of them than us, and they have Cerebro, which means they can detect a mutant when their powers manifest, and we have nothing like that!"

"Airtight is working on a system." Lady Jaye sighed. "The X-Men aren't our enemies, Althea. And they're a school. A school is going to have a lot of students."

"But-!" Before Althea could elaborate her argument further, Paul Starr slowly raised his hand.

"Uh, pardon me..." The young mutant piped up. "I was thinking..."

"What is it, Paul?"

"Well..." The retro-dressed teenager rubbed the back of his head. "It's just this Misfit thing. I mean, I don't think I'd fit. Neither would Craig. I mean, I can't see either one of us fitting into the military. Craig's _definitely_ not the type to follow orders and do what he's told, and well..." He bowed his head and rubbed the back of it. "...I don't think I'm the type of guy that can do 50 pushups on command. I'm a rocker, not a soldier."

"Actually, there's a Joe on base known as Rock 'n' Roll." Althea explained. "He's from California, and he's a bass player." Paul perked up.

"Really?" The young man grinned. "Craig might like to meet him, then. But as I said, I'm not really the type to do 50 pushups on command..." A spike of pain hit his head. "Uhn!" The boy winced loudly, falling to one knee.

"Paul, are you alright?" Cover Girl asked in concern as the Misfits' leader and the two Joes raced to his aid.

_$&#$ VIPERS!_ Paul heard Craig's voice roar in his head. _GO THE &$#$ _**AWAY! **Althea heard her Joe-Com beep.

"This is Wavedancer."

"Althea, Craig Starr and I have got a bunch of Cobra Vipers on us!" Wanda was heard exclaiming into her Joe-Com. The communication device's display was showing a map with Wanda's location shown by a red dot. "Hurry and help us out!"

"Craig!" A panting Paul exclaimed, his eyes wide with horror and worry. "Craig! Something's wrong with Craig! He's in trouble! I heard him in my mind!" Althea ran up to Cover Girl.

"Wanda's just called us! There's a situation! She and Craig are being ambushed in a cafe downtown!" Althea reported.

"We gotta help them." Cover Girl ordered.

"But, what about me?" Paul wondered, pointing at himself. "Craig's in trouble! I have to help him!"

"Paul, we can't let you come with us on this." Lady Jaye explained, putting her hand on Paul's shoulder.

"You don't understand!" Paul exclaimed in desperation. "Craig's the only family I have! I can't lose him!"

"Paul..." Cover Girl went down on one knee and put her hands on Paul's shoulders. "I know you're worried about your brother, but you have to trust us."

"Yeah, dude." Althea smiled. "We're pros. We'll save your brother."

"Well..." The birthmarked young mutant scratched the back of his head. "Can't I at least come along? I have powers! I can help!"

"I don't know..." Althea frowned. "You don't have the training we have."

"I've lived in LA's streets for three years with my brother, Althea." Paul grinned. "I can face anything."

**The cafe**

Wanda and Craig had upturned a few tables to protect themselves from the tracer fire. Luckily for them both, Wanda's training and Craig's experience with being caught in gunfights allowed them to form a table barrier without injury to either of them. Craig fired his eye laser at the Vipers, causing several Vipers to drop their weapons as the laser burned their hands. Wanda peeked up to throw a hex-bolt here and there. Some hex-bolts caused Vipers to faint, others caused them to fall over, and still others caused their weapons to explode.

"There's too many of them! We can't hold them all back!" Wanda growled.

"No kidding!" Craig agreed, firing another laser beam, then ducking back down behind the table to dodge some bullets. "How long until your fellow 'Misfits' arrive?!"

"Knowing my brother, he should be arriving right about…" Wanda noticed a streak race through the Vipers, knocking them down. "Now."

"AAAAGH!" Several Vipers got covered in slime, and they got ambushed by Althea, Xi, Todd, and Trinity. In moments, Fred and Lance arrived, providing their own talents. In moments, the Vipers were all dealt with.

"Huh." Craig thought out loud, scratching his chin as he watched the Misfits thrash the Vipers. "The guys in my old gang would _love_ to be able to use moves like that..."

"Good job, kids." Recondo complimented as he ran up to the scene with Lady Jaye, Cover Girl, and Paul. The three Joes were armed with military-grade assault rifles, which they had trained on the downed Vipers. Craig Starr glanced at the rifles, and scowled slightly. He knew some of his old gang would love to have weapons like the ones the Joes had...

"Craig, you alright?" Paul asked with worry as he tried to help his twin to his feet.

"Just ticked off as usual." Craig replied, pulling himself away. "Nothing you need to be concerned about. You know I've been caught in gunfights in the past. I know how to avoid getting shot."

"We're alright." Wanda nodded. "You guys arrived in time. We couldn't hold them back much longer."

"Where did these guys come from?" Recondo asked.

"No idea." Wanda shook her head.

"I think I can help with that." Paul grinned. "Both Craig and I have the power to hypnotize people."

_Hypnosis, huh?_ Pietro started rubbing his chin. _Just think, we gotta get these boys in the Misfits. We could have them hypnotize the X-Men and make them do silly stuff! And film it and put it on the Internet! Yeah!_

"He's better at it, though." Craig added, pointing at his brother. "I'm better with the laser."

_It fits._ Wanda thought. _Paul is clearly the less aggressive twin, so he'd be more likely to use a power in a more defensive way._

"We can use it to make them tell us where they came from." Paul continued. He walked up to one of the Vipers.

"What're doing, freak?!" The Cobra Viper snarled.

"This won't hurt." Paul smiled. His birthmark-covered eye briefly flashed with a burst of purple light. The Cobra Viper's eyes widened, then started to glow purple.

"Wow." Lance blinked. "That is something."

"That trick would make interrogations a helluva lot easier..." Cover Girl remarked. Althea smirked.

"See what I mean? These guys would make great Misfits!"

"What exactly is he doing?" Xi blinked.

"He's able to put people in a hypnotic state." Fred realized.

_Ooooh..._ Pietro thought to himself, rubbing his chin as a smirk formed on his face. _With that power, we can make those X-Geeks do some really embarassing things to themselves._ The silver-haired speedster then noticed Wanda and Craig. He frowned slightly. _Hmmm...I'll have to keep an eye on that Craig guy..._

"Where did you come from?" Paul asked the hypnotized Viper.

"We came from a warehouse district." The Viper answered, his voice a monotone.

"Is that where you've been taking street kids?"

"Yes."

"Warehouse district, huh?" Craig frowned out loud. "Yeah, I think I may have some idea where they were taken off to. it's an area full of alike-looking warehouses." He shrugged. "Companies use that area to store various things."

"Can you tell us which warehouse they are in?" Paul asked the Viper.

"Yes." The Viper responded.

"Well, which one?" Cover Girl asked. The Viper told the group which warehouse to look.

"Good luck finding it." Craig scowled. "Who knows how anyone is able to keep track of what goes into which one."

"Are we sure that that slimy viper's telling the truth?" Recondo blinked.

"He is, Tarzan." Craig explained. "When someone's under our hypnosis, they cannot lie, no matter how good a liar they are." He shrugged. "At least when Paul's doing it. He's better with it than me. My laser's stronger, however."

"Hidden in a warehouse. How cliché." Althea sighed, shaking her head.

"Hey, if it works." Paul shrugged. "You'd be surprised what people do in those warehouses."

"I don't know." Xi scratched his chin in thought. "In my time as a Misfit, I have noticed that we tend to do crazy things all the time."

_**Well, well, well! Looks like GI Joe is on the move! What insanity will happen next? What will Cobra Commander do next on the island? How will Dr. Mindbender react to the failed operation? Does he really fancy himself a rap video dancer? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!**_


	8. Exploration and Attack!

**Rising Starrs, Revamped!**

**Disclaimer: "Had a little pain in my heart, thought I had another heart attack." - Richard Pryor**

Chapter 8: Exploration and Attack!

**A desert island in the middle of nowhere**

Cobra Commander rounded a tree on the island, looking around, carrying a machete. Under his helmet, his eyes rapidly shifted left and right. He was standing in a crouched manner, looking like an animal ready to pounce on his prey. His hissing breath could be heard through his helmet.

"Wilson…Oh, Wilson…" Cobra Commander called in a sweet sing-song voice. "I'm not going to hurt you Wilson…I'm just going to maim you and eat you…I'll finish you quickly…" He heard a rustling. The terrorist leader screamed and charged in the direction of the rustle, only to fall into a ravine.

**The Warehouse District**

"Alright, kids. We'll have to be very careful here." Recondo warned. The Joes and Misfits had split into teams to search the Warehouse District for Cobra activity. Recondo was partnered with Lance, Wanda, Todd, and Paul. The group of five were

"...Uh, excuse me?" Paul slightly raised his hand. "Mr. Recondo?"

"It's just Recondo, kid." The mustachioed jungle trooper smiled.

"Ah." Paul nodded. "I was curious. Why do people call you that?"

"It's his codename." Lance explained.

"I do get that, but I don't understand it. Cover Girl I get, I saw her on the cover of an old magazine once."

"Yeah, she was a model before she became a Joe." Wanda remembered.

"But what's a recondo?"

"It's a combination of two words, really. Reconnaissance and commando." Recondo explained. "It's a term for someone who had highly specialized infantry training. In my case, it was jungle warfare."

"You mean like you can fight bad guys in the Amazon? That's a jungle." Paul blinked.

"Technically, the Amazon is a rainforest." Recondo corrected. "Rainforests are easy to travel through because the high trees hog all the sunlight, so plants have a tough time growing in the ground. The jungles I was trained to fight in have very dense vegetation, requiring a person to cut their way through."

"That explains the machete on your belt." Paul remarked. Recondo chuckled.

"This old machete's saved my life on several occasions."

"Do you ever encounter natives, like in those old movies?" Paul asked.

"Not quite. I have met some native tribes, but they actually can be quite friendly."

"Cool!" Paul grinned. "So...where you from?"

"Wisconsin." Recondo answered. "Wheaton to be exact."

"Never been there. Sounds like a nice little town."

"Yeah, it's a nice little place." The jungle trooper shrugged. "Gets real cold in the winters, though." He visibly shuddered. "I hated the cold winters. So, I joined the military to get away. I started out as a pilot."

"Neat!" Paul grinned. "Did you fly all over the world?"

"Yup." Recondo answered. "I fell in love with the jungles."

"Huh, look at that, yo." Todd remarked. "Ol' Recondo bonding with star-boy over there."

"And here we were, thinking that Recondo didn't like us." Lance chuckled.

"He only came with us because he likes Southern California's weather." Wanda remembered.

Unbeknownst to the group, the gang were being watched by tiny hidden cameras that were mounted under the overhang of the roof of a warehouse.

**Mindbender's Secret Lab**

The monitor showed the small party searching the area. Watching the monitor was Doctor Mindbender, Cobra's resident mad scientist. With him were Tomax and Xamot, Cobra's resident financial wizards, and the heads of Cobra's elite Crimson Guards.

"What?!" Mindbender screamed as he saw the Misfits and Recondo, Lady Jaye, and Cover Girl search around the area. He was watching the soldiers and the mutants search the warehouses on a monitor in his lab. "How'd they get past those Vipers I sent?! They were ready for them!" The Crimson Guard Twins frowned at the video screen, then turned to glare at the scientist.

"You said…" Tomax snarled.

"…that you'd re-capture the boys, and…" Xamot added with his own snarl.

"The Joes would never find us!" Tomax snapped.

"_**Why are those boys alive, and why are the Joes here?!**_" The enraged Crimson Guard Twins yelled at the mad doctor. Dr. Mindbender gulped and adjusted his monocle.

"Well, to be fair, gentlemen, I had no idea there were any Joes here in Southern California." Mindbender frowned at the screen. He then shrugged. "But it really is not a problem."

"Really." Xamot frowned. "And how..."

"...does it not trouble you?"

"Because, I have prepared for that possibility, gentlemen." Dr. Mindbender typed some commands on a keyboard and pressed a button with an evil smirk on his face. "I hope those freaks and their masters like these little surprises I got for them."

**The Warehouse District**

"Alright, Trinity, do you sense anything?" Lady Jaye asked. Her group consisted of herself, Trinity, Blob, and Craig. The mutant triplets scanned around the area using their psychic abilities.

"This isn't weird to you?" A blinking Craig whispered to Fred, pointing at Trinity.

"What's weird to you?" Fred blinked. "Some would consider your powers weird." Craig opened his mouth to protest, but then shrugged.

"...Touche." Craig admitted. "I guess I got no right to judge."

"I don't sense anything." Quinn answered, shaking her head.

"Neither do I." Daria added.

"That doesn't mean there's nothing here." Brittany reminded. "That may mean that there are psi-dampeners here."

"Possibly." Daria nodded in agreement. She then pulled out a small scanner-like device. "I'll have this thing check for such technology."

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Craig grumbled. "Why the hell am I doing this?"

"I don't know." Fred shrugged. "Why _are_ you doing this?"

"I don't know!"

"Maybe you're not used to being the hero of the story."

"What're trying to be, my therapist?" Craig grumbled.

"Fred's been doing a lot of reading on psychology since becoming a Misfit." Daria giggled, not looking up from her scanner.

"Seriously?" The former gang member blinked at Fred.

"It's a subject I've become rather passionate about." The large powerhouse smiled.

"Oh, brother." Craig groaned. "What next? You gonna tell me I got daddy issues?"

"Well, I'll have to sit down with you and talk to you about your childhood..."

"Any of these Joe guys ever taught you to mind your own business?" Craig snorted.

"Okay, let's talk about something else." Fred smiled.

"I don't want psychotherapy."

"I have noticed you taking a shine to Wanda." Craig pulled up the lapels of his jacket and hunched his shoulders, trying to hide his blush.

"I have no idea what the hell you are talking about."

"I think it's very nice." Fred chuckled. "I noticed that Wanda kinda got a shine towards you. It's kinda nice, actually. When it comes to that kinda stuff, Wanda's been pretty left out."

"You two should be keeping your eyes open for anything suspicious." Lady Jaye warned the two boys. Craig blinked at Fred.

"Why is she assuming I'm one of you?"

"Search me." The Blob shrugged. The two looked around. Craig then frowned in suspicion.

"The hell...?" He turned around, and he blinked. "Uh, Blob? The Joe broad told us to watch out for anything weird, right?"

"Yeah."

"Do these count?" Craig pointed at what he was looking at. "They're flying metal balls."

"What flying metal balls?" Fred scratched his head as he turned around. "Oh,_ those_ flying metal balls." True to Fred's statement, there were several blue-and-white metal spheres, about a foot in diameter each, hovering towards our heroes, emblazoned with the Cobra insignia. "Yeah, I think they count as suspicious." The rest of the group turned around.

"Oh, that can't be good..." Lady Jaye scowled. The small spheres sprouted laser cannons.

"RUN!" Trinity screamed. The lasers started firing, and the Joe and the mutants raced off.

**Elsewhere in the Warehouse District**

"Didn't we just pass by here?" Cover Girl scratched her head. With her were Pietro, Althea, and Xi.

"I think we did." Xi frowned in confusion.

"I told you all we should've brought a map." Pietro joked. "But _noooo_, you guys said you knew the way, you didn't need direction!"

"Pietro, shut up." Althea sighed. "I just hope my Toddles is okay."

"I'm sure he is just fine." A smiling Xi reassured. "Todd is very strong, and he has taken to Joe training very well. He can take care of himself."

"I know." Althea nodded. "It's just we usually aren't split apart like this. We work very well together. And I'll admit...I can't stand being away from him." Pietro groaned.

"Geez, Al! You act like you're a junkie desperate for a fix!"

"I can't help it!" Althea grinned. "He's like a drug to me." Cover Girl chuckled.

"That's nice, kids." The former model complimented. "But we have to remember to keep an eye out for anything unusual." The brown-haired tank driver then heard rumbling. "What was that?" The heroes turned and saw what appeared to be several small dog-sized remote-controlled tanks trudge up to them.

"Something tells me that those things aren't exactly friendly." Xi's hackles raised.

"You don't need ninja senses to know _that_, Xi." Pietro grumbled.

**Still elsewhere in the warehouse area**

"I don't get it! We searched this _entire_ area!" Recondo exclaimed in frustration, rubbing his temples.

"I'm sorry. I don't remember exactly which one." Paul sighed apologetically. "They all looked alike."

"Probably done on purpose to affect any escapees psychologically by confusing them and making it easier to recapture them." Daria thought out loud with a nod. Lance turned to Paul.

"Are you _sure_ you don't remember?"

"I'm sure!" Paul nodded. "We didn't really get an opportunity to remember details, because we were really more worried about getting out with our lives intact."

"Great, we have officially hit a dead end!" Wanda grumbled, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Well, now how do we YIPE!" Todd leapt out of the way as a laser grazed by him. "What was that?!"

"You alright, Toad?" Recondo asked in concern.

"I'm alright..." Todd nodded. He then noticed something, and the amphibian mutant growled, tightening his grip on his staff. "I think we're in trouble, yo." The group looked up and gasped at what they saw.

**The desert island in the middle of nowhere**

"Here, bally bally bally bally bally. Heeeeeere bally bally bally bally. _Heeeeeere_ bally bally bally ballyyyyyy…" Cobra Commander called insanely as he stalked around and around a palm tree, his machete raised. "Where are you, you little..." He gasped as he looked out into the ocean.

There Wilson was. The smug ball was floating in the ocean, mocking the terrorist leader...at least Cobra Commander _thought_ he was. "DIE EVIL TURNCOAT PLOTTING BALL! RAAAAGH!" Cobra Commander leapt into the water and started swimming towards the spot where he saw the ball. "Kill the ball! Kill the ball! Kill the ball! Kill the ball! Kill the ball! Kill the ball! Kill the ball!" Unbeknownst to the crazed terrorist leader, a group of sharp fins were swimming towards him.

"GONNA KILL YOU, WILSON!" Cobra Commander roared as he kept on swimming. The fins came up towards the Commander, and...

_**Chomp!**_

"YEEEEAAAAAAAAAAGH! HELP ME MOMMY!" Cobra Commander screamed as he got mauled by a group of angry sharks. For some strange reason, they were all wearing nametags that said "Hi, my name is Bruce" on them. "BAD FISH! YOU ARE VERY BAD FISH! WILSON, I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!"

_**Well, well, well! Looks like our heroes are in trouble! What insanity will happen next? How else will the Commander lose it? Will he ever get off that stupid island? Will he get his paws on Wilson? Will our heroes be able to stop Cobra? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!**_


	9. Capture!

**Rising Starrs!**

**Disclaimer: "Be afraid. Be very afraid." - Tagline of "The Fly"**

Chapter 9: Capture!

**The middle of the ocean**

"WAAAAAAAAAH! HANG ON WILSON! I'M GUNNING THIS SUCKER!" Cobra Commander screamed at the top of his lungs. He was racing a jet ski on the water at top speed, Wilson tied securely in the back. Behind the jet ski, one could see a whole school of sharks coming after them. "DON'T WORRY WILSON! I'LL SAVE YOU! THE MAGICAL FAIRIES! THE MAGICAL FAIRIES CAN SAVE YOU, WILSON! DON'T DIE ON ME MAN! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD MAN, IF YOU BELIEVE IN ANYTHING YOU WILL _NOT_ DIE!"

_Man, what a screwball._ The sharks thought as they pursued the mentally deserted Cobra Commander.

**The Warehouse District**

"Great! Just freakin' great!" Craig Starr grumbled. He, Fred, Lady Jaye, and Trinity raced through the warehouses, the laser-blasting flying metal spheres after them.

"Where on Earth did these things come from?!" Daria asked as she zapped one of the spheres with psychic lightning.

"We can figure it out later, sis!" Quinn snapped as she zapped another sphere. Brittany whipped out a pair of shuriken and was about to toss them at another sphere when it sprouted a laser cannon.

"Yeow!" The young mutant yelped as she barely managed to duck in time. She winced as the laser passed mere centimeters above her head. "These things aren't just flying around being nuisances!"

"No kidding!" Craig Starr snapped, dodging a laser blast from one, and smacking another away with his nightstick.

"Ha!" Lady Jaye threw a couple spears at the spears, accompanied by Craig firing his eye laser. The combined attacks managed to destroy a couple spheres. Trinity used their psychic lightning to take down a couple more. "These things are crazy!"

"Do you Misfits encounter stuff like this _all_ the time?!" Craig exclaimed as he shot another sphere down with his eye laser.

"Actually…today is pretty calm." Fred responded coolly, punching down a sphere. He noticed a sphere about to blast Quinn. "Quinn! Watch out!" With a speed that belied his great size, the powerhouse mutant raced in front of the young girl. The energy blast slammed into Fred. "Nn!"

"Thanks, Freddy!" Quinn grinned, blasting the sphere with her psychic lightning. "You alright?"

"Just a little sting, but I'm okay." Fred nodded. Craig looked at Lady Jaye.

"And Cover Girl asked me if I was interested in **joining** this insanity?!" Craig exclaimed. "You have **got** to be kidding me!"

"Can't be that much different than that time you met Dr. Strange." Lady Jaye countered as she kicked a sphere away, then dodged a laser blast from another. Craig blinked.

"How the hell-!" Craig started to snap, but stopped. _Oh, right._ He reminded himself. _I told Wanda about that. She must've told Spear-Girl about it._ A blush crept up on his face at the thought of Wanda. _Dammit..._ He shook his head. "What ARE these things, anyway?!"

"Some kind of Cobra gadget, I'll bet!" Fred scowled, crushing a sphere in his hands.

"This isn't Mindbender's style, though." Brittany frowned, frying a sphere with her psychic lightning. "He's more into genetics, not technology."

"The big bald meanie must've had some help making these!" Daria realized, destroying another sphere with some exploding shuriken. Unbeknownst to the mutants and ex-Ranger Joe, a small hole opened in a warehouse wall, and some little spheres rolled through the hole wall.

"Hey, what're those?" Fred pointed at the spheres.

"Whatever they are, I doubt someone just sent them to play marbles." Craig grunted. The small spheres released some clouds of sickly brownish-green knockout gas.

"Gas!" The mutants and Lady Jaye coughed and wheezed until they fell under.

**Mindbender's Secret Lab**

"Four down, several to go…" Dr. Mindbender smirked at the fallen Joe and Misfits. "Now let's check on the ones that are still moving…" The mad geneticist adjusted the view of his monitors. "Ahhh, yes…let's put these babies to sleep…"

"Methinks that good ol' Dr. Mindbender…" Tomax started.

"Has finally gone round the bend. Indeed." Xamot grumbled, crossing his arms. The financier scowled at the crazy bald geneticist.

"I simply _must_ remember to thank that Virus boy for the robotic devices he created for this." Mindbender reminded himself. _I know Virus will keep silent about this. Unlike the rest of Shadowatch, he would have no issue with helping me out with this_...He then found himself having another issue. _If Shadowatch __**did**__find out...it won't be pretty. I haven't treated my subjects remotely as badly as the lab that had those kids in it, but I doubt they'll care in the least..._

**Elsewhere in the Warehouse District**

"Hey, lookit that!" Paul Starr chuckled, pointing ahead of himself.

"Are those..." Recondo blinked. "...they look like remote-controlled tanks." True to the jungle warfare specialist's word, what seemed to be a line of small green remote-controlled toy tanks rolling towards the group of mutants.

"Okay, it's official." Pietro rolled his eyes. "Whichever one of the Stupid Snake Squad is behind this is either drunk or crazy."

"Shut up and fight!" Wanda snapped, dodging a tank's energy blast and firing back a hexbolt.

"I _hate_ tanks!" Althea growled. She pitched a few shuriken at a couple of the robotic tanks, causing them to explode. "Is Cobra on some sort of toy kick or something?!"

"It is good that these are small then. Otherwise we would have a very bad day." Xi noted as he used his claws to slash open a few more tanks.

"Can't-catch-me-Can't-catch-me-Can't-catch-me!" Pietro teased as he zipped around, driving the tank's targeting system crazy. Pietro also happened to be juggling some rubber balls.

"Pietro! Stop playing around!" Cover Girl snapped as she fired a machine gun at the tanks. Pietro chuckled.

"Aw, come on!" He started to laugh. "I can't help myself! These things are so freakin' slow, I mean, I could drink a cup of coffee and watch the entire _Godfather_ trilogy in the time it takes these guys to-" The young speedster then heard a sound. "What in the-?" Pietro looked up and saw a group of spheres fly towards them. "Oh, this can't be good." Cover Girl blinked at the spheres.

"The hell are those?" The spheres then sprouted laser cannons. "Aw, no..."

_**Bzzow! Bzoow! **_Bolts of green energy flew from the spheres' cannons, racing towards our heroes.

"Watch it!" Cover Girl screamed. The heroes scattered as the energy blasts rained down on them.

"Talk about your death from above!" Pietro cracked as he dodged the sphere's energy blasts while creating a tornado to knock over some of the small tanks by spinning his arm.

"Where do these things keep coming from?!" Althea yelled.

"Who knows?! Let's just get out of here!" Cover Girl ordered. She covered the Misfits' retreat with her machine gun. But their retreat was cut off by knockout gas delivered in the same way as before.

**Still elsewhere in the Warehouse District**

"I _knew_ it was too quiet!" Recondo grumbled as he dove into a warehouse, firing an assault rifle. The target was a large dark green anthropomorphic dragon-like creature. The tracer rounds he had fired seemed to do little more than annoy the creature. "Dammit! I need a bazooka or something!"

"Where the hell did this thing come from, a Renaissance Fair?!" Lance dove into the warehouse alongside him. Todd, Wanda, and Paul were fighting a strange dark green anthropomorphic dragon-like creature. The creature stood about nine feet tall, and had Godzilla-esque spines running down its spine and long tail.

"Did you guys encounter this thing when you escaped?" Todd yelped as he dodged the dragon's furiously swiping claw.

"Nope!" Paul jumped over the dragon's thrashing tail. "Just guards with guns for us!" His star-covered eye glowed a bright purple.

_**FWASH!**_

A bright purple beam of energy erupted from the eye. The beam hit the dragon monster between its eyes, making the dragon roar in pain. "Wow! That thing's got some tough scales!"

"YEOW!" Wanda rolled out of the way of a stream of fire from the dragonesque monster's mouth. "What the hell _is_ this thing?!"

"Must be one of Dr. Mindbender's little creations, yo!" Todd answered loudly as he pole-vaulted over a fire blast and pitched a couple shuriken at the dragon. "We all know he likes to make genetic monsters! Hell, he makes his own dates!" The amphibian-like young mutant performed a few leaps and jumps to help him gain some height, and then he spat some acid in the creature's eyes, making it retch and roar loudly in pain.

"Ha!" Wanda hit the dragon-like artificial creature with several hexbolts, causing it to topple into one warehouse, unconscious.

"It's okay! You guys can come out now!" Paul called, waving to the warehouse. Lance and Recondo came out of the warehouse to join the other Misfits.

"Well, that was easy." Todd blinked at the downed dragon. He saw a group of small metal spheres roll towards him. "Oh, no."

_**Fzzzzzzz!**_

"Gas!" The group gasped and coughed, but they eventually succumbed to the effects, and fell unconscious.

_**Uh oh! Looks like our heroes are in big trouble! What insanity will happen next? Can our heroes successfully defeat Cobra and free themselves? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!**_


	10. Chapter 10

**Rising Starrs!**

**Disclaimer: "We are Scotsmen, hey! We are Scotsmen, hey!" - Iron Man and Beast**

Chapter 10: Release!

**Mindbender's Secret Lab**

"Uhhhnh…" Paul moaned as he opened his eyes. The young mutant rubbed his head as he slowly rose to his feet. "Where am I now?" He mumbled blearily as he shook his head, sitting up. After shaking out the cobwebs, his eyes captured the sights of plain gray walls. On one wall, he saw a pair of cots that vaguely reminded him of a bunk bed. And on the wall across, was a commode. He noticed that instead of bars, there was a green-tinted forcefield. "Oh, dear..." He found himself in a cell. The young mutant sighed. "Oh man, not again…" Paul fingered the collar around his neck. "Oh yeah. This is _definitely_ déjà vu all over again…"

"Uhhn..." A figure lying next to Paul groaned.

"Hi, Craig."

"Uhn...where am I?" Craig groaned, rubbing his head. He frowned as he looked around. "Ah, hell. Not here again."

"Afraid so, bro." Paul nodded. "So, how're you doing?"

"How do you think?" Craig grumbled as he sat up. "You okay?"

"I think so." Paul looked around. "Back in these cells again."

"Yeah." Craig grunted. "So much for freedom. And so much for those Joes and Misfit guys helping out."

"I dunno, I think they tried their bet." Paul shrugged. "I like that Recondo guy."

"Who the hell is Recondo?"

"One of the Joes. You know, the one with the hat and the moustache?"

"Oh, him." Craig nodded. "How're we gonna get outta here? We only managed to escape the last time due to those Crimson Guardsmen screwing up. I highly doubt that they will make the same mistake twice."

"We'll find a way, bro." Paul smiled. "We always do." The air in front of the boys shimmered, and Doctor Mindbender appeared in front of the two. The twin mutants quickly jumped to their feet.

"Good to have you back, little star boys." Dr. Mindbender grinned. Paul blinked.

"You again, huh?" Paul remarked with a deadpan look. Craig only growled and clenched his fists.

"Yes, me." Dr. Mindbender grinned. "I went to a lot of trouble to bring you back. Unfortunately, you and your trouble-making brother just _had_ to bring the Misfits and the Joes with you." Dr. Mindbender jumped back in fright when Craig leapt at him.

"BIG MISTAKE, YOU SON OF A-HUH?!" Craig roared. He tried to make a grab for the mad scientist, but just went right through him. He landed with a grunt. "The hell?!"

"Oh my gosh." Paul waved his hand through the mad scientist. "Hey, cool! A hologram! Just like in _Star Trek_." He chuckled as he continued waving his hand through the hologram. "This is totally awesome!" The holographic image frowned.

"Please stop doing that." He deadpanned.

"Oh, sorry." Paul grinned sheepishly.

"Just my luck." Craig grumbled as he rose to his feet and dusted himself off. Dr. Mindbender smirked.

"You boys actually thought I'd be dumb enough to appear in person around the two of you?"

"It would've been nice." Craig grunted.

"And I'm certain you would've been so restrained, young man."

"Why don't you grow a pair, come down here, and come talk to us personally?" Craig challenged, crossing his arms.

"I have seen your way of conversations, Mr. Starr, and I'd prefer this method, thank you very much."

"Not to sound cliché and all, but you _really_ think you can get away with this?" Paul frowned, shaking his head. "We did escape once. We can do it again."

"I'm sure you'll try." Mindbender laughed. "But I learn from my mistakes." The hologaphic image then pushed back one of its gloves, revealing a watch. "Oh, would you look at the time! I have experiments to get to. You know, I think I will use your new friends as my first test subjects..." Craig growled and Paul gulped. The holographic Dr. Mindbender laughed as he vanished. Meanwhile, in the cell across from the Starr twins' own, a figure slowly groaned.

"Ughn..." The voice was feminine. "Freakin' gassed..."

"Well, that's just fantastic!" Craig snapped, punching a wall. "Not only are we back to where we started, we ended up getting more people captured! Wonderful!"

"Don't worry about it, Craig." Paul tried to be optimistic. "I'm sure we can find a way out of this one. And rescue the Misfits."

"Ohh, my head..." The female voice groaned. Paul blinked as he heard it.

"Hey, isn't that-?" He rushed up to the front of his cell and squinted in an attempt to see the other cell across from his own. "Ohmigosh! Althea!"

"Ohhh...what's going on here?" Althea mumbled as she rose to her feet.

"You're in the cells, Althea." Paul told the Misfits' leader. "These are where we have been staying for as Dr. Looney's guests." Craig walked up to the front of the cell. "From what we understand, Dr. Mindbender had been doing experiments to figure out the mysteries of the X-Gene."

"He's been capturing street kids, particularly ones with mutant powers." Craig added. "There's other cells with other kids nearby." He looked around. "Looks like your friends are going to be in big trouble if we don't get out of here, Delgado. Those collars prevent the use of mutant powers." Althea nodded.

"We Misfits have been trained for these situations, boys." A small smile appeared on her face. "These collars can be cracked. Besides..." Althea's smile twisted into a smirk. "I have more than just powers." She spat out a lockpick. Paul whistled.

"Wow."

"Ninjas are always prepared." Althea smirked. She used the pick to free herself of the collar. She let out a slight shudder when she felt her powers return. "Mindbender may be a genetics whiz, but he's a complete dipstick when it comes to catching and restraining people." She then concentrated and held out her hand. She felt the air in the cell grow drier as she gathered up the moisture in the air. A small sphere of water grew in her hand until it reached the size of a baseball. "I've never tried throwing a ball of water at a forcefield before..."

"Would it even _work?_" Paul looked at Craig.

"Do I _look_ like someone who knows the answer to that question?" The moodier twin facepalmed.

"Here we go!" Althea pitched the ball of water at the forcefield.

_Bzzzzz... _The forcefield started to shimmer and glitch. _BZZZZ**OW!**_ The forcefield shorted out.

"Nice one, Althea!" Paul whooped. "Totally stellar to the max!" Craig's jaw dropped.

"Wow. That actually worked."

"Wow." Althea blinked. "That should not have worked." She then shrugged. "Ah, just take it." She walked over to the Starrs' cell. She then eyed a control panel next to the forcefield of the mutant twins' cell. "I got this." She then pulled out a small knife from her boot and jammed it into the panel. The forcefield shut down.

"Awesome! You are radical, Al!" Paul laughed as he raced out of the cell and hugged Althea.

"Ha ha, thanks, Paul." Al chuckled. "But we're not quite out of the woods yet."

"She's right, brother." Craig agreed. "We still gotta get out of here."

"And free my family." Althea nodded. She quickly looked around. "Alright, you guys go that way and help find and free the other captives. I'll take care of the Joes and the other Misfits."

"You got it, Al!" Paul eagerly saluted.

"Now, hold on! Since when do _we_ follow _your_ orders?" Craig scowled at Althea.

"You got a problem, Craig Starr?" Althea glared at the former gang member.

"Not now, you guys!" Paul grabbed Craig. "C'mon! Let's go help the others!" Paul and Craig ran off, down deeper into the holding area. Althea raced off in the opposite direction to help her fellow Misfits and Joes.

"I can't believe we're doing this." Craig groaned.

"Hey, it could be worse." Paul shrugged.

"How?"

"We could be facing those demons again."

"Oh, God!" Craig's eyes widened.

**The lab control room**

"WHOOO!" Tomax whooped as he and Xamot played a game on a pair of portable game systems. Xamot cursed.

"Well, those Misfits and Joes are under lock and key. As well as those Starr boys once more." Dr. Mindbender grinned happily as he walked into the room. "Good idea using a hologram to talk to them. One of them tried to go for my throat."

"Dr. Mindbender, we'd like to warn you…" Tomax started.

"That those Joes and Misfits can be wily." Xamot finished. "They've escaped perils before…"

"So I would not underestimate them." The escape alarm sounded. "Ah. I am…"

"Not surprised in the least." Xamot smirked. Dr. Mindbender groaned and rubbed the his temples.

"Back in the day, we used to be able to keep a Joe confined for at least several hours. Are we losing our touch or something? Wait a minute…" Dr. Mindbender smirked. "I prepared for this situation. I have the thing for this situation. I took blood samples of the various young mutants we captured. I used the DNA from the blood to create an enforcer." The Crimson Guard Twins' eyes widened.

"Then why did you not send it…" Xamot exclaimed.

"To get those Starr Brothers in the _first place?!_" Tomax finished in an equally shocked tone.

"Because it wasn't finished when those Starr boys escaped, that's why!" Dr. Mindbender snapped. "Besides, I wanted to make sure it was absolutely perfect..." An evil smirk grew on his face.

_**Well, well, well! Looks like our heroes are in trouble! What insanity will happen next? What's Mindbender's secret weapon? Can Craig and Paul rescue their fellow captives? Will our heroes save the day? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!**_


	11. Chapter 11

**Rising Starrs**

**Disclaimer: "It's Wayne's World! Wayne's World! Party Time! Excellent!" - Mike Myers and Dana Carvey as Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar, Saturday Night Live and the Wayne's World movies.**

Chapter 11: Another Problem!

**Dr. Mindbender's Secret Lab**

"I never thought I'd end up in one of these places again." Wanda Maximoff frowned as she looked around. She was sitting against a wall, her knees pulled up to her face, clutching herself tightly. The hexcaster was frightened, the cell reminding her of her time in the asylum. "I don't like being locked away..."

"Don't be scared, Wanda!" Quinn Delgado called from the cell across from Wanda's. She was stuck in one with her sisters, Daria and Brittany.

"How's she doing?" Lance Alvers asked from his own cell, which was across from the Triplets'. "I can't really see her too well."

"She's scared." Quinn sighed. "She must be reminded of her time in that horrible asylum."

"Wonderful..." Lance sighed. He looked across from his own cell and saw Pietro pace up and down in his cell.

"I can't stand it!" The silver-haired speedster moaned as he paced. "I gotta get out of here! I gotta get out of here, guys!"

"He's _still_ pacing?" Daria groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Yup, he is." Lance chuckled, sitting down on his cot.

"You win, sister." Quinn handed Daria a five-dollar bill.

"Well, as long as we're here..." Lance pulled a harmonica out from a pocket in his costume. "Who wants to hear a tune?"

"Ooh, I _love_ when Lance plays his harmonica!" Brittany perked up happily. "He sounds just like a real bluesman!"

"We gotta get outta here before we all go bananas, and you're worried about playing _harmonica?!_" Pietro screeched.

"Gotta do _something_ until we get rescued, or figure a way out of here." Lance shrugged. He then started to play a little tune on his harmonica.

"Oh, now isn't this just wonderful!" Pietro grumbled, continuing his pacing. He then shot a glance at Wanda. "How's she doing?"

"Not well, Silver-head." Quinn shook her head. "She's terrified." Pietro sighed.

"Yeah, I know."

"_I got the blues…_" Lance sang and played a harmonica. "_The trapped in a cell with our powers shut off by an evil mad doctor who is a member of a terrorist group bent on ruling the world blues…_" Lance blew a solo on his harmonica.

"Well, I happy _someone_ found a way to amuse himself." Pietro was pacing up and down.

"_If Pietro doesn't stop pacing up and down, he'll get the 'I-just-got-Lance's-boot-shoved-down-my-throat' blues!_" Lance sang in an annoyed tone.

"Okay, okay, okay! Sheesh!" Pietro grumbled. The silver-haired speedster sunk to the ground, depressed. "I can't help it! I'm going crazy in here!" He started running around. "I can't take it! I need to get out!"

"Pietro, shut up!" Daria groaned. "We can't think with you acting like this!"

"I'm sorry, I just can't stand being cramped up in here!" Pietro exclaimed. "The walls are closing in…I can't breathe…" He started running around in a panic.

"Ugh!" Daria groaned, rubbing her temples. "Just one bolt of psychic lightning to shut him up..." She tugged at her collar. "Just one..."

"Pietro's just crying for attention, Daria. Don't worry about it." Lance shrugged, then went back to playing his harmonica.

"I gotta get out of here..." Wanda whimpered.

"Well Wanda, consider me your way out." Althea grinned as she appeared from the shadows.

"Big sister!" The Triplets grinned, running up to the forcefield of their cell.

"Hey there, girls." Althea grinned. "Don't worry about it! I got the key to your freedom." Althea used her lockpick to free the six captive mutants.

"FREEDOM!" Pietro whooped happily, doing a cartwheel.

"Not so loud, you moron!" Lance snapped as Althea undid his collar.

"There we go." Althea nodded in satisfaction as she successfully got Lance's collar off him. "Now to get Wan-!" The aquakinetic found herself getting glomped by Wanda.

"Th-thank you..." Wanda mumbled.

**Elsewhere in the lab**

"Hey guys!" Paul grinned as he and Craig ran into another hall full of cells. Each cell contained a person, a castaway residing in LA's many streets.

"Hey! Paul and Craig Starr!" An urchin with purple hair grinned. "About time you two showed up!"

"You really thought we'd leave you behind, Eddie?" Paul shook his head with a smile. "I'm hurt! You know us!"

"Did you get help?" An old man asked.

"We did, but they really didn't turn out to be much help." Craig grumbled as his star-covered eye started to glow.

_**FWASH!**_

The dark purple laser erupted from Craig's eye and smashed the control panel next to the old man's cell, deactivating the forcefield. He did the same to the cell next to his, freeing a girl with red skin and white and black hair.

"Go help free the others! Blast the control panels!" Craig ordered.

"Aye aye, captain!" The girl saluted, her left hand erupting into flame, and cold blue energy emerging from her right as she ran off, following Craig's orders.

"What did he mean by 'the help did not turn out to be much help'?" Eddie asked Paul as the young singer approached the keypad of Eddie's cell.

"Aw, don't worry about it." Paul waved Eddie's concern off with a shrug. "He's just being his usual grumpy self." He blasted the keypad to Eddie's cell with his eye laser, freeing the young mutant. The group of captured people gathered around the Starr Brothers.

"Okay, what do we do now?" Eddie asked.

"We get the hell out of here, that's what!" Craig snapped. The two young mutants led the group of homeless people towards an exit.

"Do you guys know the way out of here?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah, we'll get you out. Don't you worry!" Paul grinned. "We'll get you out, and then the Joes will take care of the bad guys here."

"Joes?"

"GI Joe, Eddie." Craig rolled his eyes. "You know, the military unit?"

"But, what about the guards?" A gray-haired older woman remarked.

"Yeah, doesn't anyone notice that there are no guards around?" Eddie remarked.

"He's got a point." Craig agreed as the group continued to race out of the complex. "I don't like this." The group stopped when they heard a snarling sound. "What's that noise?!"

"Whatever it is, I doubt it's good." Paul gulped nervously.

"It sounded like an animal of some kind." One homeless mutant gulped.

"It didn't sound like any known animal." A frightened homeless human remarked.

"Maybe that thing is why there are no guards." Eddie remarked.

"I'm sure it's nothing." Paul tried to reassure the frightened people. "It's probably just creaking or a machine or something." The snarling grew louder. Craig glared at his brother, his star-covered eye glowing a hot dark purple.

"Paul, I really doubt that it's a machine." A huge shadow washed over the group. The group then heard a regular stomping that grew louder and louder as the source got closer and closer to the twin brothers and the people they were rescuing.

"What…what…what is that thing?" One homeless person gulped.

"Nothing good." Craig growled, as the creature came closer and closer to the group.

**Dr. Mindbender's Control Room**

"Oh yeah! Get them, my pretty! Get them!" Dr. Mindbender whooped at the monitor he was watching. "I know it's stereotypical, but I like doing it anyway! BWA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!"

**Out on another island**

"Don't worry, Wilson! I saw this on Gilligan's Island! I know we can get help with this!" Cobra Commander explained to the volleyball triumphantly, holding up a strange construct. It appeared to be the Commander's attempt at rigging a radio out of coconuts. He glared at Wilson, who was sitting on a stump.

It was hard to tell what facial expression the Commander was shooting at Wilson, because his face was being obscured by his blue helmet with the silver facemask. "It _will_ work! Shut up! I don't need your frickin' smart-alec comments!" The ball just sat there silently.

Wilson could only sit silently because Wilson was a volleyball, and volleyballs can't move or talk on their own. Unfortunately, Cobra Commander seemed to have forgotten that fact. "What did you call me?!" Cobra Commander snapped. He marched over to Wilson, grabbed the ball, and started squeezing and shaking it. Evidently, he was trying to strangle the ball, but he couldn't because volleyballs don't have necks. Unbeknownst to the insane Cobra leader, a group of sharks started circling the island...

_**Well, well, well! Looks the insanity will continue! What madness will happen next? What is the creature? Will the Misfits be able to save the day? Will Cobra Commander return to the real world? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!**_


	12. Unleash the Monster!

**Rising Starrs!**

**Disclaimer: "Shut up, Russ." - Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold, National Lampoon's European Vacation (A hilarious movie! If you don't have it, buy it! If you've never seen it, see it!)**

Chapter 12: Unleash the Monster!

**The island**

"I!"

_**BONK!**_

"WANT!"

_**BONK!**_

"OFF!"

_**BONK!**_

"THIS!"

_**BONK!**_

"ISLAND!"

_**BONK!**_

Cobra Commander kept banging his blue hard-helmeted head against a palm tree in frustration. "I hate this place! I want to go home! RRRRGH!" He angrily kicked the tree. However, what the terrorist leader failed to notice that his head-banging had slowly caused a coconut on the tree to start to come loose. And the kick had started to make it slowly break away from the tree. The Commander glared a hole at Wilson underhis metal facemask. "Don't you start, Wilson! Don't you _dare_ start, Wilson! I don't need your smart-alec remarks, pal!" Meanwhile, the sharks continued to circle the island.

_He's gone completely insane, Bruce. Absolutely frickin' nuts._ One of the sharks "said" to another as they observed the Commander argue with the volleyball.

_Yes, Bruce. He appears to have lost all his marbles, as you Yank sharks would say._

"Wilson, I am going to kick your head in if you don't stop making smart-alec comments!" Cobra Commander roared.

_Snap!_

The coconut went down.

_**Bonk!**_

"OW!" The Commander screamed as the fallen coconut knocked the terrorist leader in the noggin. "Nnngh!" He stumbled around, his arms over his head. "Oh…" Cobra Commander moaned, holding his head. "Huh?" He blinked underneath his one-way mirrored faceplate. He saw himself on a beautiful beach, with a wooden malt shop in the horizon. It was covered by beautiful dancing girls in colorful bikinis, and Beach Boys-esque surf rock music was heard in the air. The scene looked like a 1960s beach film. A couple girls giggled and beckoned the Commander. "YEAH BABY!" The Commander ran to the girls and started dancing with them. "Whoo!"

"Great party, huh?" A voice, remarkably similar to Tom Hanks, inquired in a jovial manner. Cobra Commander looked around and saw Wilson smiling up at him. The animated-looking Wilson had tiny arms and legs, like a cartoon character. "It sure is awesome, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah! This party is _groovy!_" Cobra Commander squealed delightfully. He and Wilson continued dancing with the giggling and laughing bikini girls. At least, that's what the Commander saw. However, in the point of view of the sharks, who could safely be considered quite a bit more sane than Cobra Commander, he was dancing by himself. And to them, it was looking rather creepy.

_My God, he's snapped._ One shark "gulped". _I think we'd better get out of here!_

_Ah, relax Bruce._ Another shark laughed. _This is too hilarious! Hey Bruce, got the camera?_

_Yeah._ A third shark swam by, somehow having a camcorder duct-taped to its head. _This is going to be great!_

**Dr. Mindbender's Secret Lab**

**__****Boom!**

**"AGH!" Dr. Mindbender and the Crimson Guard Twins yelped and hit the ground as the door to the control room they were in exploded.**

**"Hello, boys!" Recondo grinned as he, Cover Girl and Lady Jaye marched into the room, wielding weapons they got from some downed Cobra Vipers. The Misfits then appeared right behind them.**

"Alright, Mindbender!" Lady Jaye warned, pointing her rifle at the the Cobra members. "You and the Terror Twins are coming with us."

"Oh, give us an excuse, please." Althea grinned, tapping her staff in her hand.

"Yeah, yo." Todd grinned, whipping out his own bright green staff. "We'd so love it if you fools didn't come quietly."

"You can't escape, Mindbender." Cover Girl cautioned. "You're trapped like rats. And there are a lot of witnesses to what you've done here." The Crimson Twins blinked.

"Well, Mindbender?" Tomax looked at his bald compatriot.

"You have a plan?" Xamot mirrored his twin's action.

"You bet I do." The mad scientist whispered. Then he grinned and turned to the Joes. "You Joes said we cannot escape. Well..." He pressed a button on the control panel behind him. A panel next to the control panel lifted up, revealing a hidden passage. "Sorry to disappoint you!" The three Cobra members raced into the passage. "Bye!"

"After them!" Lady Jaye ordered. The Joes and the Misfits ran into the passage.

"Man, it's tight!" Pietro grumbled. "I can't run in this!"

"We won't need speed to catch those three stooges!" Brittany laughed.

"As soon as we get down this hall, we're home free!" Mindbender chuckled. The three Cobras then heard a sound coming from further down the hall.

"What was…" Tomax started.

"…that noise?" Xamot finished.

"Oh no." Mindbender gulped.

"Hey, they stopped." Recondo noticed.

"What _are_ they doing?" Cover Girl scratched her head in confusion.

"Who cares?" Pietro smirked. "Let's get 'em!" He started to run off, but found himself held back by Fred. "Hey, come on, Freddy!"

"I heard a noise." The large Texan powerhouse explained.

"I hear it too." Xi frowned in concern.

"Don't need to have sensitive ears to hear that noise." Recondo looked ahead of the three Cobra members. "Hoo boy."

"What is it, Recondo?" Lady Jaye asked.

"...I think we need to turn back." The jungle warfare expert winced.

"Why do we need to...hoo boy." Lady Jaye's eyes widened. "Everybody go back!" The Joes and Misfits turned and ran back the way they came.

"Is that what..." Tomax blinked.

"We think it is?" Xamot blinked as well.

"Oh, this is going to suck for those Joes." Doctor Mindbender groaned. The noise was created by a human stampede, created by the escaping homeless people. In the lead, were the Starr Brothers. And the stampede was heading right towards them.

"GANGWAY!" Paul Starr screamed. "LOOK OUT!"

"Oh, this _is_ gonna suck." The Crimson Guard Twins groaned in unison.

_WHAM!_

The Starr Brothers and the captured people literally ran over Mindbender and the Crimson Guard Twins as they tried to escape. The group raced out past the Misfits and the Joes.

"That...is a lot of people." Althea remarked.

"What was that all about?" Xi wondered, scratching his head in confusion.

"Something spooked them real good." Recondo noted.

"I can imagine they've seen some messed up things." Wanda remarked. "Who knows what could be going on in the streets of LA." A monstrous roar suddenly erupted, shocking the group.

"The _hell_ was that?" Recondo blinked. Xi growled and tensed up.

"It was nothing natural."

"Nothing natural?" Todd squeaked out.

"No surprise, considering Mindbender's involved in this mess." Fred remarked.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" The Crimson Guard Twins screamed as they raced by, followed by a cackling Mindbender.

"Have fun with my creation, Joes! He's very eager to meet you!" The mad scientist cackled as he escaped.

"Blast you, Mindbender!" The Crimson Guard Twins snapped as the three criminals made their escape. The Joes and the Misfits looked at each other.

"The hell was that?" Cover Girl carefully crept to the door, and peeked into the hall. Her eyes widened when she heard a growling. "That's not good." The ex-model mumbled, gulping.

"Grrr..." The source of the growling stepped into the light.

"Oh my God.." Cover Girl mumbled. It was a bizarre bipedal creature, standing around nine feet in height. The monster vaguely resembled Godzilla. Down its back ran a line of sharp spikes. Its body was covered in what looked like interlocking red scales that vaguely resembled the Fantastic Four's Thing. The monster's tail was like that of a lobster, but the fin appeared to be covered in thin bone. Its muscular arms were tipped by lobsteresque claws with steel points.

"Did Godzilla screw a lobster?" Pietro scratched his head. The creature roared at the heroes.

"We can't fight that thing here. No room." Althea noted, gripping her staff. "And we have no idea what it does."

"Then we gotta lure it out into open ground." Lady Jaye suggested. "Guys…RUN!" The creature roared with rage, and took off after the group of heroes.

"Come on, Lobsterzilla!" Recondo fired his weapon at the creature. The shots weren't meant to harm the creature (Recondo highly doubted the gun's bullets would do any harm to the monster), just anger it and keep it after the soldiers and their mutant wards.

"Let's go back the way we came!" Lady Jaye ordered. "We'll be able to get outside and deal with this monster!"

"She's right!" Althea agreed. "We have a better chance of stopping that thing out in a open area!" Althea ordered as the Joes and Misfits raced back the way they came, the roaring monster after them. The group managed to make their way back to the warehouse area, when they noticed Paul and Craig waiting for them.

"Hi!" Paul waved. "Did you guys manage to stop Cobra?"

"Boys, what're you two doing here?" Recondo's jaw dropped.

"And where are all those other people you had with you?" Lance added.

"They all ran off." Craig answered. "But we decided to stay and fight."

"Yeah, that Mindbender guy was a real jerk." Paul nodded in agreement. Craig snarled and pulled out his nightstick.

"I want to make those Cobra scale-brains _pay_ for messing with me and my brother! I'm _not_ afraid of _anything_ that twisted monster brings out!" The monster roared as he ripped through the warehouse wall. The Starr Twins' jaws dropped. "The hell is _that?!_"

"One last gift from Mindbender." Cover Girl answered.

"And yes, it is that ugly." Trinity remarked in unison.

"I don't know what you are thinking, dear brother. But if you ask me, I think there is no shame in being afraid in this situation." Paul gulped as the monster reared up to its full height and roared.

_**Uh oh! Looks like Mindbender's monster is on the loose! What insanity will happen next? Will Cobra Commander get off that island? Can the Misfits and Joes beat the monster? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!**_


	13. Final Battle and Recruitment!

**Rising Starrs!**

**Disclaimer: "You're starting to look like Paulie. You don't want to be like that." - Paul Teutul Sr., American Chopper**

Chapter 13: Final Battle and Recruitment!

**A desert island**

"Oh yeah! This is so groovy, huh Wilson?" Cobra Commander whooped as he happily danced. Wilson, which was a volleyball with a face painted on it, was sitting on a stump. This was reality. However, in the now-delusional mind of the evil terrorist leader, Cobra Commander was dancing with several bikini-clad girls. "Ha ha! Easy, ladies! There's plenty of Cobra Commander to go around. Ooh! Cheeky, aren't you?" Cobra Commander was also pretty oblivious to the fact that there were several sharks nearby, all strangely named Bruce. The aforementioned sharks were all swimming around the island. One had a camera on its back.

_Oh man, this is great!_ Bruce the shark laughed. _This is so funny! We're gonna get rich with this!_

_One tape sent to Candid Camera, and we'll be the richest sharks on earth!_ Another shark named Bruce laughed. _Oh yeah, I can finally get my teeth lined with gold, like I always wanted._

_Guys! Boat!_ A third shark named Bruce warned. The sharks quickly swam off as a speedboat raced up to the island. The fast black boat, adorned with Cobra insignias on both sides of its hull, slowed down as it approached the island. The pilot was a man in a black uniform. Unusually, over his entire head was a metal helmet/face mask. James McCullen Destro, Cobra's arms dealer, cut the boat's engine.

"Commander! I have come to…rescue…you…" Destro blinked as he saw the Commander dance with himself. "What on Earth...?"

"Ha ha ha ha!" Cobra Commander laughed as he continued to dance, completely oblivious to Destro's noticing him. "What a party, huh Wilson?" Destro blinked.

"It was only a matter of time, I guess..." The arms dealer picked up the boat's phone. "Hello? Yes, I am going to need some help here. Yes...yes, I have found the Commander. But he's...having some difficulties at the moment. Yes, bring the tranqs. The elephant tranqs. Thank you." The metal-masked man sighed as he put the phone down.

"Whoo!" Cobra Commander whooped. Destro shrugged.

"Well, as long as I'm here..." The arms dealer smiled and pulled out a cell phone with a camera in it. He then used it to snap a few pictures of the Commander. _I'm going to get a lot of laughs showing these photos at the next Cobra staff meeting!_

**The warehouses, Los Angeles**

The Misfits and the Joes codenamed Recondo, Lady Jaye, and Cover Girl stood in front of the lobster-like genetic monster of Dr. Mindbender's creation.

"You guys may want to stay back." Althea told the three Joes. "Let us handle this."

"Al, we've handled things like this before." Cover Girl smiled. "We can help handle this."

"Hopefully, it can be shot." Recondo muttered under his breath.

"You have no idea what this thing can do!" Althea countered.

"That thing is ugly." Quinn whispered to her sisters.

"Yup." Daria agreed.

"It's ugly, but it _is_ quite a fascinating creature." Brittany added. "Maybe the Joes will let us keep it for study."

"Absolutely not." Lady Jaye growled.

"You girls are right." Recondo nodded at Trinity. "That this is one ugly mother." The lobster creature roared.

"I think it heard you, Recondo." Pietro cracked. The jungle trooper groaned.

"Does anybody have any idea of what that thing can do?" Althea looked around at her compatriots.

"I overheard that Mindbender clown mutter something about using parts of our DNA." Craig muttered. The lobster monster opened its claws. In its left claw, a ball of fire formed. In the right claw, a glowing ball of blue energy. Craig's chocolate brown eyes widened at the sight. "Oh, crap!"

"What is it?" Althea blinked.

"That's Diana's power!" Craig gaped.

"Who's Diana?" Lance blinked.

"Girl who was with us in the cells!" Craig explained. "She had red skin, and could shoot fire from one hand and ice from the other!" The monster roared and thrust out its claws. "Get down!" The group ducked as the lobster monster's claws erupted with streams of fire and ice.

"Damn!" Recondo grumbled as he ducked around a corner of a warehouse, Quinn right behind him. "I'm just hoping this ugly mother isn't bulletproof." Quinn pulled out a tricorder-esque device from a pocket in her uniform. "Like _Star Trek_, huh?"

"Just because I'm a girl, don't mean I can't be a sci-fi geek." The young mutant grinned as she looked at her device's display screen. "Well, I got good news, and bad news."

"We could use some good news." Recondo remarked.

"It's not invulnerable."

"Oh, good. We can shoot it. I like the idea of being able to shoot it." Recondo smiled in relief.

"It's not invulnerable...but that thing can still take a beating." Quinn remarked.

"Dammit." Recondo grumbled. He noticed Fred and Craig had ducked behind another warehouse. "Boys! You hear Quinn?"

"You think we're deaf, Joe?!" Craig snapped. "I may listen to a lot of heavy metal, but I can still hear just fine! HEY!" He glared at Fred, who had flicked him in the back of the ear.

"Be nice." Fred admonished the ex-gang member. "We heard, Recondo."

"Looks like we're going to have to lay a beating on that monster." The jungle warfare expert cocked his rifle.

"If that thing needs a beatin' to stop it..." Fred smirked confidently, cracking his knuckles. "Then a beatin' is what we'll give it." Craig stopped to look at the larger mutant.

"...You're crazy. You are crazy. Fight that _thing?!_" Craig yelped.

"Got no choice, Starman." Fred grinned. "Can't let it run wild out here."

"Especially if it goes anywhere near people." Quinn added.

"Don't call me Starman." Craig groaned. "That's stupid."

"I agree." Quinn nodded. "I think Darkstar is a better name." Craig blinked.

"Darkstar?"

"Yeah." Quinn grinned. "From the black star over your eye." Craig shook his head.

"Whatever."

"ARE YOU GUYS GONNA YAP OR FIGHT?!" The small group heard Althea roar at them. "WE GOT LOBSTERZILLA TRYING TO KILL OUR ASSES HERE!"

"YEOW! WHOO! HOT STUFF!" Pietro whooped as he zipped around the monster, deftly dodging the streams of fire and ice. "Nyeah nyeah can't catch me! Too fast for you!" Lobsterzilla howled in rage.

"I don't think this is working YIPE!" Wanda yelped as she dodged Lobsterzilla's tail.

"No kidding!" Lady Jaye growled in frustration as she shot at Lobsterzilla. "My gun's running low on ammo, and it's not doing much good against this thing EEK!" She ducked under the monster's swinging tail.

"Grrrrrr..." The monster growled at the speedster. Its right eye started to glow. Paul's eyes widened.

"Quicksilver, watch out! It's gonna-!" The teenager yelped.

"Huh?" Pietro blinked, glancing at the creature.

_**FWASH!**_ The creature's eye erupted with bright purple light.

"AIGH! MY EYES!" Pietro screamed, throwing his hands over his face.

_Oh, thank God, it only blinded him!_ Paul thought. _That thing isn't probably capable of using hypnotic abilities._ "Quickie, watch out! You're gonna hit-!"

_WHAM!_

"Ow!" Pietro wailed as he ran into...and through a warehouse wall. More noises were heard of the young mutant speedster colliding and smashing into various objects.

"Ooh, that'll hurt." Paul winced.

"I'm okay..." Pietro squeaked out weakly.

_Paf! Paf! Paf paf paf!_

"RAAARGH!" Lobsterzilla roared as it was hit with several explosive shuriken. He turned to glare at Xi, who was holding some shuriken with small explosive devices mounted inside them.

"Hmmm..." The reptilian Cobra-created lifeform frowned, glancing at the shuriken in his hand. "I'll have to ask Airtight if he can make these explosive shuriken more powerful." Lobsterzilla snarled, and then let out a roar.

_**FWASH!**_

"Rrgh!" Xi growled as he rubbed his eyes. Lobsterzilla raised its claw in an attempt to finish the reptilian artificial lifeform off, but...

_Brrrrrat-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat!_

"Get away from him!" Cover Girl yelled at Lobsterzilla as she, Recondo, and Lady Jaye fired their stolen rifles at them.

"RAARRR!" Lobsterzilla roared, firing a stream of flame from one of its claws.

"Yeow!" The three Joes yelped as they dove out of the way.

"Guys…" Althea turned to the three Joes, gripping her staff. "_We'll_ handle the monster! You guys stay back!"

"Al, we can't just leave you to face that thing alone!" Cover Girl exclaimed in response.

"Joes don't fight alone, kids." Lady Jaye answered.

"Even when our guns are low on ammo." Recondo added.

"ROARRRR!" Lobsterzilla fired a stream of fire from his claw at the Joes.

"Oh, no!" Althea gasped.

"Geez!" Pietro got ready to move. With his speed, he was confident he could grab the Joes and get them to safety before the fire could reach them. But he would not be the Joes' savior this day. Instead it was a teenage girl. A teenage girl with red skin and black-and-white hair.

"What the-?" Craig's jaw dropped.

"Diana!" Paul exclaimed. The girl, Diana, threw her arms out and her skin started to glow. The flames curled up towards her and seemingly melted into her skin. Diana grinned.

"Flames can't hurt me!" She taunted.

"You guys fine?" Pietro asked as he managed to zip up to the Joes.

"We're alright." Cover Girl nodded. "Thanks to Red Girl over here." Diana smiled.

"You can say I'm hot stuff..." A smirk formed as one of her hands started to glow blue. "...and cool as ice."

"Yaaaa-_hoo!_" A purple-haired boy whooped as he leapt off a warehouse roof. His body started to emit a purple glow as he flew towards the monster.

"Who is that?!" Recondo blinked.

"Eddie? What is _he_ doing here?" Craig blinked.

"Friends of yours?" Althea asked.

"Yup!" Paul answered with a huge smile.

"Kind of." Craig nodded. "Like us, they're local mutants. Mindbender didn't get around to messing with Eddie yet. Lobsterzilla has Diana's powers. Fire from one hand, ice from the other." Lobsterzilla roared at Eddie.

"Eat this, ya ugly kaiju-wannabe!" Eddie whooped. He fired a beam of purple plasma from his mouth. The plasma blast slammed into Lobsterzilla, knocking it to its knees.

"I think your friend manged to hurt it." Fred observed.

"You have no special powers! We do! Let us face this thing!" Craig snapped. "I've seen punks more intimidating than this."

"I highly doubt it, Craig Starr." Lance said. "Ever faced off against mutant creatures like this?"

"You think Paul and I are the only mutants in LA?" Craig growled.

"Look out!" Trinity screamed. The monster spewed radiation green-colored flame from its mouth at the heroic mutants and soldiers.

"Go, guys!" Todd yelled at the Joes. "We got this! Go help those people!" The Joes looked at each other and sighed. The Misfits knew what they were doing.

"Hey Godzilla!" Craig roared, firing his eye laser at the monster. He hit it right between the eyes, causing it to fall over. "Take that, you…" The monster roared. "…freak…"

"That thing's indestructible!" Paul exclaimed.

"Not as indestructible as me!" Blob crowed. He ran up to the creature and leveled it with a mighty punch.

"_Ooh,_ that'll hurt!" Diana winced.

"RAAAARGH!" Lobsterzilla roared, slashing at Fred.

_**Shrip!**_

"Ngh!" The Texan powerhouse mutant winced, clutching his stomach. Lobsterzilla roared in triumph, but found itself floored by another punch from Fred.

"Fred, you okay?!" Althea yelped in concern as she ran to her teammate.

"I'm alright." Fred winced slightly, uncovering the area that Lobsterzilla slashed. The mutant powerhouse frowned down at his shirt. His skin didn't even have any marks on it, but his shirt ended up with two slash marks on it. "Stung like hell, though." He shot a glare at the downed creature. "And I liked this shirt."

"I think I can get the Triplets to fix it." Althea shrugged. "They can repair Space Shuttles, they can sew a shirt."

"Grrr..." Lobsterzilla snarled as it slowly got to its feet. Althea eyed a ladder on a nearby warehouse wall, and noticed that the ladder led all the way to the roof. The aquakinetic ninja then got an idea.

"Freddy, I want you to climb that ladder, and wait on the roof until I give the signal."

"Uh, okay..." Fred blinked. He walked over to the ladder, and started to climb. Pietro zipped up to Althea.

"Uh, Al?" The silver-haired speedster blinked. "Are you trying to get Fred to collapse the warehouse by standing on it?"

"Just trust me." Althea reassured. She then glanced at the recovering Lobsterzilla. "Everybody! We have to keep that thing on that spot!"

"Why Eddie dear, I think she thinks we're on her little team." Diana chuckled as Eddie landed alongside her.

"Play along, babes." Eddie grinned. "I think she knows what she's doing."

"I'll give this guy a good rocking!" Lance growled as he summoned a small earthquake.

"Careful with the quakes, Lance!" Althea ordered. "I don't want to bring Fred down yet!"

"This is a bad idea..." Fred mumbled as he looked down.

"Everyone!" Althea ordered. "Open up on the sucker!"

"Oh, hell yeah!" Diana laughed. "I like this girl!" She blasted at Lobsterzilla with her fire and ice powers. The other mutants and the Joes opened up with their powers and weapons.

"RARRRRRR!" Lobsterzilla roared in pain and rage as it tried to withstand the assault it was under. From all directions, it was hit with hexbolts, violet lasers, psychic lightning, twin streams of fire and ice, purple plasma, and bullets. The creature wasn't being helped by the fact that Lance's tremors were making the ground constantly unstable, not letting the creature get any completely sure footing.

"Fred! Leap on it! NOW!" Althea called.

"Ummm...okay..." Fred reluctantly nodded. The large mutant then took a mighty leap.

"Holy crap! The fat man's trying to fly!" Pietro gaped.

"Ooh, the pavement's going to be in a lot of pain..." Todd winced. Althea smirked evilly.

"It's not the pavement that's going to be hurting."

"What do you mean, Althea?" Xi blinked in confusion.

"Let's just say Lobsterzilla over there is going to have one helluva headache."

"Oh, boy! Everyone fall back!" Lance ordered when he saw Fred falling towards Lobsterzilla.

"GERONIMO!" Fred yelled as the mutants ran away.

"Wow!" Diana mumbled as she looked up.

"Yeah! Awesome, isn't it?" Paul grinned.

"Oh, this is gonna hurt..." Craig winced.

"Better that thing than us." Eddie nodded.

"Ur?" Lobsterzilla looked up.

_**BWAM!**_

The powerhouse mutant landed on Lobsterzilla, crushing the creature and knocking it out. A grunting Fred looked up.

"Did I get it?"

"Yeah, I think you got 'im, kid." Recondo smiled.

**Sometime later**

**Althea was walking on the beach alongside the four young mutants that helped her and the Misfits defeat Lobsterzilla. After the monster was taken down, and a couple calls were made, the Joes and SHIELD had come to help restrain the monster and figure out what to do with it.**

**"Thanks for the help, you guys." Althea told the small group with a smile. "We really appreciate it."**

**"Hey, ****_de nada_****, Fish-girl." Eddie shrugged.**

**"Happy to help." Paul grinned.**

**"Whatever." Craig shrugged.**

**"Had to admit, I had some fun." Diana chuckled.**

**"I'm glad you did...Diana, right?" Althea chuckled. The red-skinned girl nodded.**

**"Yup." It was with Diana's response that Althea then got hit with the bolt of** metaphorical lightning that was inspiration.

"Hey listen..." The aquakinetic smiled. "Can I ask you guys something?" Althea wondered. The quartet of mutants looked at each other. "You all were a big help to us back there. You guys ever considered using your powers to help people?"

"You mean..." Eddie scratched his head. "Be like superheroes? Like the Fantastic Four or something?"

"Kind of." Althea nodded.

"...I'm intrigued." Diana raised her eyebrow.

"...Is it gonna be scary?" Paul blinked.

"What're you saying?" Craig frowned, crossing his arms.

"Well...I'd like to ask you all if you wouldn't mind joining the Misfits." Althea grinned. The foursome looked at each other.

"Us? Misfits?" Eddie blinked.

"Really?" Paul rubbed the back of his head.

"Hmm..." Diana rubbed her chin. "Sounds like it could be fun."

"No way." Craig frowned, shaking his head. "I'm not into that superhero stuff."

"I got nothing against it, but LA is crazy enough for me." Eddie shrugged.

"As much as it would be fun, I can't leave my Eddie behind." Diana agreed. "Besides, LA has its own share of fun stuff to do."

"Yeah..." Eddie admitted. "Besides, back there, I just realized something. These streets need someone to watch out. Nobody knew about what was happening out here, and well..." The purple-haired young mutant rubbed his head. "This place could use a bit of watching over."

"I can respect that decision." Althea nodded.

"Well, I think that it would be a good idea for Craig and I to join the Misfits!" Paul grinned widely.

"Paul, have you gone deaf?" Craig snapped. "I said I wanted nothing to do with this stuff! I'm with Eddie, LA is crazy enough as it is."

"Think about it, bro. We've lived on our own for so long. Remember when every night, I would say that one day we'd find a home?"

"I remember that." Diana smiled. "You always talked about finding a home one day."

"This is our chance, Craig!" Paul continued. "For the first time in so long...we'll finally get a place to call home. A real home." Craig was silent as he glanced at his twin.

_You really want to do this, huh?_

_Yup._ Paul "nodded". _I don't want to leave you behind, bro._ Craig "sighed".

_Fine, I'll come along. Only to keep an eye on you._

_I **know** that's not the only reason. _Paul "grinned". _I can tell you like that Wanda girl. _Craig visibly blushed, and his brown eyes.

"Ooooh-hoo-hoo! Look at Craig, Ed!" Diana giggled. "I've never seen him blush like _that_ before."

"What are they doing?" Althea blinked. "They're just staring at each other."

"They're talking telepathically." Eddie explained. "They can do that."

"They're telepaths?"

"Kinda." Diana shrugged. "They can't read other people's minds, just each other's."

"It's how they found each other." Eddie added. "They have a link that allows them to find and sense each other."

"Huh." Althea nodded. "I can see some good tactical uses for that power." She then stared at the twin brothers. "So, they're..."

"They've had entire conversations telepathically." Eddie chuckled. "It's interesting to watch."

"I think it's kinda relaxing." Diana shrugged. "At least you don't have to hear Craig's shouting. He can get loud when he shouts."

_I AM **NOT** CRUSHING ON THAT WANDA GIRL!_ Craig telepathically roared, cutting off the conversation.

"You'll like it, Craig." Paul grinned, patting his twin's shoulder. "Those Joes seem really nice. are real nice. I like them. I think we'll do just fine as Misfits."

"Whatever." Craig mumbled quietly.

"We'll miss you, man." Eddie shook Paul's hand and playfully punched Craig's shoulder.

"Yeah." Diana smiled, hugging the twins. "Eddie and I will watch over your old movie studio home."

"I'm sure they'll let you and Di come over for visits and stuff." Paul blinked. He looked over at Althea. "You would, wouldn't you?"

"Of course!" Althea nodded. "Here." She pulled out a couple of wrist watches and handed them to Eddie and Diana.

"What're these?" Eddie blinked.

"Ooh, that's a pretty-looking watch." Diana grinned, putting it on.

"They're special communicator watches." Althea explained. "They'll allow to talk to us. If you ever want to come visit us, just use the watches, and we can teleport you to our base."

"Teleport? Like in _Star Trek_?" Eddie's jaw dropped.

"Cool!" Diana grinned.

"Ed, the news all the time talk about the exploits of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four and stuff like that. The Fantastic Four have their own flying car! You yourself can shoot plasma from your mouth like you're related to Godzilla! You _really_ think teleportation is not impossible in this world?" Craig groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Oh yeah, good point, heh heh." Eddie chuckled in embarrassment, rubbing the back of his head. Craig sighed.

"But, we said we weren't joining the Misfits." Diana reminded. "So, why...?"

"You two were a big help to us back there against Lobsterzilla." Althea explained. "I thought it'd be unfair just to leave you guys with nothing. So...ow about you two can be honorary Misfits?"

"Honorary, huh?" Diana grinned. "Ha!" The red-skinned girl chuckled and threw her arm over Althea's shoulders. "I like it! It's a deal!"

"Yeah, thanks, Althea." Eddie smiled sincerely, shaking Althea's hand. He then looked at the Starr Brothers. "We'll help you pack up your stuff."

"You guys can have the old studio if you want. Just take good care of it." Craig nodded.

"Thanks! And we'll come visit!" Diana nodded in return.

"Welcome to the Misfits, guys." A smiling Althea threw her arms over the Starr brothers' shoulders. "I think you boys'll fit in just fine."

_**Well, well, well! Looks like the Misfits have got two new members! How will Paul and Craig fit in as Misfits? What insane adventures will happen next? Find out soon! This is L1701E, saying thanks for reading!**_


End file.
